The Duelist of Magic
by Wolf of the Black Rose
Summary: Jaden Kaiba's going to the school his dad opened. Now, he has to save the world while hiding his powers, his real name, the mark on his back, and the two spirits in his soul.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, everyone, I've got a new one!**

 **Sakura: It's a classic 'Jaden is the son of Seto Kaiba' story.**

 **Jaden's also going to use a Spellcaster deck instead, along with being the reincarnation of Atem's son, Judai, the Prince of Light.**

 **Sakura: Who also held an ancient dragon spirit called the Elemental Dragon, which Jaden is in search of.**

 **He can also use magic, like his late mother, and he has an older brother and a younger sister. Plus, Seto's going to be engaged to Joey, since I love this pairing.**

 **Sakura: This is a lot for one story.**

 **I couldn't decide on just one, so I went with all of them. There will also be more plot devices in the future but those will be kept a secret until then.**

 **Sakura: Wolf doesn't own Yu-gi-oh or Yu-gi-oh GX, if she did Joey and Seto would have gotten together.**

 **On with the story!**

Chapter 1: Enter a Champion

It was about eight in the morning in Domino City. At the Kaiba mansion, the sun was trying to enter the room of a fifteen year old boy, who was sound asleep.

Said room was red and black, and a bit messy. There were also some books on magic, sorcery, charms, herbs, and rituals of various religions spread about, along with books on Egypt and the Shadow Games. The boy himself has short brown hair with a light brown patch on top and slightly tan skin, if you could see his eyes they would be brown.

While he was sleeping, he was also being observed by two transparent figures. Both looked exactly like him, only one had red eyes and was dressed in royal Egyptian clothing and jewelry, and the other had gold eyes and was wearing spiky black armor. Their names were Judai and Haou. They were both looking at the boy with either amusement or annoyance.

" _Should you wake him up or should I? Or should we get Blast Magician out her?"_ Haou, the one in armor, asked, turning to Judai.

" _No, I'm positive Ben is going to come rushing up here any second."_ Judai replied, referring to the boy's older brother.

Haou nodded. Then, both spirits disappeared when they heard someone coming.

Just as they left, the door was knocked open with a tremendous amount of force, also letting in some light, which hit the sleeping boy's face, causing him to grumble angrily as he stirred slightly.

"JADEN! WAKE UP YOU LAZY BUM!" A voice shouted from the door.

In the door stood a young man, who looked about nineteen years old. He was about 6'2 with a slender, sleek build that made him look taller. He had brown hair in a similar style to Jaden's only spikier and all brown, and his eyes were blue like their father's. He was wearing an unzipped dark green jacket over a yellow t-shirt, tan cargo shorts, gray ankle socks, and white sneakers.

The sleeping boy, now known as Jaden, just turned over with a groan. Ben growled in frustration and stomped over to his brother's bed. With both hands, he grabbed hold of the blanket and yanked it off the bed, which also pulled Jaden to the floor because he was clutching said blanket.

"That was mean, Benji." Jaden muttered, now awake.

Ben helped his little brother off the floor before speaking. "Jaden, you need to get ready. The Duel Academy entrance exams will be starting in two hours."

"I know, I know," Jaden responded, getting really tired of his brother's nagging. "Dad and I made the test, remember? Even if I do pass with flying colors, I'm still going to ask to be in Slifer Red."

"Why?" The older Kaiba asked.

"Because I want people to judge me for me, not my last name." The second Kaiba responded, gathering his things for a shower.

"I take it that's why your application has the last name Yuki on it instead of Kaiba."

"Yup." With that Jaden left the room and headed to the bathroom.

Ben just shook his head, his brother was so fixated on trying to make a reputation that was all him.

Ben was about to walk out the room when a picture on his brother's night stand caught his eye. It was a picture of him, Jaden, their father, and a woman with shoulder length light brown hair, brown eyes, and an average height wearing the uniform for a local spa in the city and heavily pregnant.

That was their birth mother, Katie Kaiba, who had worked as an insurance. She had met their father when they met to discuss insurance plans after an accident. They had met and it was love at first. They had dated, got married, and had him, his brother, and their little sister, Rika. Unfortunately, their mother had died a few years after giving birth to her, from a car crash.

"You'd be really proud of Jay, mom. I know you would also like the new person in dad's life, too." Ben said with a smile and then headed out the door.

A short while later, Jaden came downstairs wearing a black t-shirt under a black jacket with red outlines and blue jeans. He came into the kitchen and found his dad reading the paper, his brother eating breakfast, and his sister having her hair brushed by their dad's fiance, Joey.

Their little sister had waist-length light brown hair, blue eyes, and fair skin wearing a white dress and sandals with a dark pink flower-like bow in her hair. His father was wearing his usual black outfit and white trench coat and Joey wore his uniform for his job as a chef.

Seto looked up from his paper and gave his youngest son a look of disapproval. "So you finally decided to join us, Jaden?"

"Leave him alone, Seto. Everyone sleeps late once in awhile," Joey scolded lightly, though then he started thinking. "Well, everyone except you."

Rika giggled at this.

"Thanks, Joey." Jaden said, smiling at Joey.

Seto had run into Joey after he had found him working in a restaurant that Kaiba Corp. owned. They had kindled a friendship after meeting again and that had blossomed into a relationship. After being encouraged by his kids, Seto proposed to Joey and were now planning their wedding.

"He'll be fine, dad. After all, he is a Kaiba." Ben said with a smirk.

Seto gave a slight smile, then went back to his paper. After a quick breakfast, Jaden headed back upstairs to grab some things before hitting the road to the Kaiba Dome.

 _"You seem eager for Duel Academy."_ said an elegant female voice.

He turned to see the spirits of Mystical Elf and Lyna the Light Charmer behind him.

"You could say that." Jaden laughed as he went through his books.

 _"Hey, I looked over your shoulder and is the pride thing the only reason you don't want to use your last name?"_ Lyna asked.

Jaden smirked. "Ben told me the horror stories about the Obelisk girls, especially the fan girls. I am not about to go through that."

He shuddered as he remembered the horror his brother went through with those psychos, he was not about to go through with that. He heard chuckling both behind him from the girls and in his head from the two spirits inhabiting it.

He grabbed his phone, his laptop, a spellbook, a few paperbacks, a notepad and pencils, a pair of sunglasses, and an iPod with headphones. With those in a black and red bag, Jaden grabbed his deck and duel disk and headed down stairs.

When he got there he saw his dad and future step-dad talking with a man with spiky tri-colored hair, purple eyes, and wearing a Domino High uniform, which is surprising since he was around the same age as his dades.

And he knew him well. "Yugi!"

The three men turned around. Yugi smiled. "Hello, Jaden. I heard you were going to Duel Academy like Ben did."

Ben had graduated from Duel Academy a year earlier. He was put in blue and used his real name. He didn't care what people thought about how he got where he was, he knew and that was all that mattered. After graduation, he took a job at Seto's company as a representative, since he never saw the appeal of big tournaments like his dad did.

Jaden, though, wanted to take where he came from out of the equation and earn his respect his own way and take up the duel mantle of the Kaibas, the Wheelers, and the title of King of Games.

"Yup, but no one except a few people are going to know who I really am." Jaden said, smiling.

"Uncle Yugi!" came Rika, as she ran down the stairs, Ben walking down the stairs behind her.

The game king caught her in a hug and laughed. "Hey, how are my other two godchildren?"

Seto had asked Yugi to his kids' godfather as kind of a 'thank you for saving my life more times than I'd like to remember'.

"Jaden's going to dad's school!" Rika said.

"I know, I came here to see him off," Yugi said, reaching into his deck case. "I also have something for all three of you."

Rika smiled wide and stepped back to see what they were. Yugi gave a card to each them.

"Oh, it's so cute!" Rika squealed, her card being Stealth Bird.

"Nice, this will come in handy." Ben acknowledged, having been given Light and Darkness Dragon.

Finally Jaden got his card. Yugi had given him one of the newest Kuriboh's to the family, Winged Kuriboh.

"Thanks, Yugi." Jaden said with a smile.

He could definitely feel a duel spirit in this card along with ones given to his brother and sister. Jaden had the strongest ability to see duel spirits, his own and those of other duelists. His sister could only see her own duel spirits and Ben could only hear his duel spirits.

"You're welcome, and good luck at the exams." Yugi said, even though he also knew Jaden had helped make the tests.

"Thanks! Bye everyone, I'll see later this afternoon!" Jaden said, slipping on his black sneakers.

He said a few more good byes and then was on his way.

About an hour later, because of a late train, Jaden was at the dome. He registered at the front desk and went to go take the written portion of the exam. Jaden had sped through it since he knew all the answers, so he read one of his books for a while before they gave everyone a number showing when they'll duel.

 _'Ironic. First one done and I'm the last one to duel.'_ Jaden thought, seeing his number.

He found a spot by the top of the stairs in the arena and sat down, taking out a paperback and his iPod to kill time. He on occasion would glance down at the duels on the field and there were a few that peaked his interest.

He soon sensed someone approaching him, hesitantly.

"E-excuse me?" came a timid voice from his right. He turned to see a short boy with light blue hair and glasses. "C-Can I sit here?"

Jaden looked at him for a moment and smiled. "Sure."

The other boy nodded, still nervous, and sat down beside him. "I'm Jaden, what's your name?"

"I-I'm Syrus, nice to meet you." The bluentte, now known as Syrus, stuttered.

Jaden was beginning to get the impression that this guy was really shy around others. They just sat there in awkward silence until a duel down on the field caught their attention.

It was between a boy about their age wearing a grayish-white uniform and a dueling proctor. On the field in front of the proctor were two defense position monsters known as Gear Golem the Moving Fortress (800/2200) and Big Shield Guardna (100/2600). The monster opposing the duel proctor was Vorse Raider (1900/1200) and there was also a face down spell/trap card.

"Alright new guy," The proctor called to the boy. "Multiple choice; you have two monsters staring ya down, do you A: throw in the towel, B: beg for mercy, or C: run home to mama?"

"I'll go with D: none of the above!" The boy with dark hair announced before the face down flipped up.

"A trap!?" the proctor asked, shocked.

"Exactly," Bastion said with a smirk and then went on to explain. "You see, with Ring of Destruction I can destroy any monster on the field that's in attack position and we both take damage equal to its attack points."

A ring of red bombs appeared around Vorse Raider's neck and exploded on impact, dropping the boy's life points to 1300. while the proctor's dropped to zero ending the duel. The holograms disappeared and the proctor spoke.

"Clever move, applicant," He said. "Welcome to the academy."

The boy bowed and said. "Thank you oh wise proctor."

Up in the stands, three boys wearing Obelisk Blue uniforms who also watched the boy's duel.

"Wow, that guy's pretty good don'tcha think, Chazz?" The boy with blue hair, glasses, and a southern accent, named Torimaki, said.

"Guess the rumors about him being some kind of whiz kid were true, huh Chazz, huh?" The boy with short, spiky brown hair, called Raizou, asked in a thick voice.

"He's a punk," The person they were talking to, a spiky, black haired kid named Chazz, said. "We went to Duel Prep school for the past three years, we're ready for the academy. These kids don't know what they're getting into, but they'll learn… the hard way, the Chazz Princeton way."

"Nice one," Jaden praised. "Not many duelists can sacrifice their monsters with the odds being completely in their favor like that."

The blue haired boy turned to him. "Yeah, Bastion Misawa; they say got one of the highest scores out of all us applicants."

"Wow," Jaden mused. _'I was told I tied scores with someone, now I know who.'_

"I just barely passed," Syrus then looked somewhat depressed. "I kinda have this thing where I get test anxiety, I don't know how I won my match."

"So, you're in," Jaden said, supportingly. "Congratulations, I'll be in too just as soon as I win my duel. I'm the last one up."

A moment later, Bastion had made his way up to the stands and sat down in the row in front of them. "Good duel, Bastion." Jaden praised him, catching the boy's attention.

"Thank you." he said, modestly.

"From where I stand, you might just pose an actual challenge." Jaden stated, catching Bastion by surprise.

But before he could say anything the PA system came on.

"Jaden Yuki, please report to exam field four."

"Finally!" Jaden exclaimed, getting up to leave. "Wish me luck, guys!".

But Jaden didn't get very far before Bastion stopped him.

"Wait," Jaden turned to him. "What did you mean by actually posing a challenge?"

Jaden smirked. "Simple, no one's been able to beat me yet." With that he turned and walked down the stairs to the exam field.

"Wow, he's so sure of himself," Syrus said, amazed, "I wonder if he's really that good."

"Well he's going to need to be," Bastion inputted, turning their attention to the field. "Look who he's dueling."

Down on the field, Jaden rose up on a platform, completely calm yet eager for a duel. On the other side of the field, stood a teacher named Dr. Crowler, headmaster of the Obelisk Blue boys dorm and the vice-chancellor.

He could easily be mistaken for woman, but never tell him that. He wore a blue blazer with gold accents and pink ruffles. He had long blond hair in a ponytail and purple lipstick. Jaden had heard about this guy from Ben, and had questioned his dad several times why he had been hired.

"All right, test time!" Crowler said, looking at Jaden with confidence. "So, son, your name?"

Jaden turned and stared at him with equal confidence, only his was more hidden. "Jaden, Jaden Yuki."

"Well, Jaden Yuki, I'm Doctor Vellian Crowler, Department Chair and Techniques professor here at Duel Academy." Crowler introduced himself with pride dripping from his voice.

"Oh, you're a teacher," Jaden said, a cheeky smile appearing on his face. "From how you were dressed, I thought you were the school mascot." He chuckled slightly at that.

Crowler got annoyed at that.

"Now that he mentions it..." Torimaki said.

"That guy's got some lip, huh Chazz?" said Raizou.

Chazz was not pleased at what Jaden was saying down there.

Crowler activated what he called his duel vest and drew his opening hand. Jaden looked at machinery with curious eyes, surprised that people still used those. Crowler mistook it as being impressed by the machinery, but he didn't say anything.

"Alright! Time to throw down!" Jaden said strongly, activating his duel disk and drawing his opening hand.

"Duel!"

Crowler: 4000  
Jaden: 4000

"I'm up." Jaden said as he drew his first card.

He looked over his hand and made a plan. He had heard about Crowler's dueling style from his brother, so he figured it be best to set up a strong defense before going on the offence.

"First, I play the spell Double Summon, which lets me summon twice this turn and I summon the two Magician's Valkyries in my hand to the field in defense mode." Two identical girls, who looked strikingly like Dark Magician Girl only with red hair, armor, and a hook-like scepter, appeared on the field. They crossed their scepters causing some kind of electrical shield to form.

"Since I have two of them on the field, your attacks are locked down. Lastly, I set one card face-down and end my turn." A facedown card appeared behind the monsters.

"Alright teach, bring it on!" Jaden said, confidently.

"Yes, of course," Dr. Crowler said dismissively as he drew his card. "Don't tell me what to do," He muttered then looked at his hand.

 _'After all since I'm using my own personal deck rather than one of those puny test decks, I'll be calling all the shots. I'll fail this miserable little brat and send her home in no time.'_ He grinned when he saw the cards in his hand.

"I think I'll start out nice and easy, by playing the spell card Confiscation!"

"Not good." Jaden muttered, starting to get nervous.

"No it's not. What it does is allow me to pay 1000 life points to take a look at your hand and then send one of your cards to the graveyard." As he was explaining, Jaden's hand glowed, startling him, and then holographic images of those cards appeared in front of Crowler. They were Monster Reborn, Summoner Monk, and Gemini Elf.

"Ah yes, I remember some of these back from when I was a naive rookie." This comment caused Jaden to growl, but Crowler didn't notice.

"Now which one shall I banish?" He looked at each card carefully before making a decision. "Monster Reborn to the graveyard!"

Jaden's card was sent there.

"Next I'll set two cards face down," Two face-down's appeared in front of Crowler and then he held up one more card. "And last, but not least, I play Heavy Storm! This spell destroys every other spell and trap card that's out on the field."

A heavy wind picked up and Jaden's face down Draining Shield was destroyed along with Crowler's two face-downs. Jaden saw that.

"Hey, you know you just destroyed your own face-downs too, right?" Jaden asked questioningly.

"Now, now, you mustn't speak out-of-turn, young scholar." Crowler countered.

After that dark clouds began to form around his side of the field.

"Hey, what's happening?" The brunette boy asked, tensely. His Valkyries tensed as well.

"Nothing's happening," Crowler said dismissively before adding, "Not yet!"

Just as he did, two gold dragon-worm-like creatures appeared on his side of the field. "But that's about to change."

The audience was amazed by the two creatures but Syrus was confused. "Could someone tell me what's going on?"

"Those two face downs that Dr. Crowler had out were called Statue of the Wicked," Bastion explained as he observed the duel. "It's a special trap that creates a vicious monster token when it's destroyed by a card effect. That's why he played Heavy Storm."

"A card that strong couldn't be in the test decks, Crowler must be using his own." Torimaki said.

"Then this duel's over," Raizou, the other boy, said. "No one can beat the deck of an expert like Dr. Crowler."

"Yeah, it's impossible, don't ya think Chazz?"

"Yeah, what do you think, Chazz?"

Chazz grinned at this. "I think I'm going to enjoy watching Crowler wipe the floor with our mouthy little friend down there. I just wish he had treated all the other second-rate duelists that applied to the academy the same way."

"What an elitist snob," Alexis said. "Bullying some amateur with his very best cards."

"You're too soft, Alexis," Zane spoke up, causing Alexis to look at him. "I just hope we get to see that legendary rare card Crowler has stashed away in that deck of his."

"Ready for your next lesson?" Crowler called to Jaden on the other side of the field.

"Bring it!" Jaden answered with excitement and confidence in his voice and a smirk on his face.

Crowler regarded that negatively. "Very well."

His tokens started to glow and writhe in flames. "Now I sacrifice my two Wicked Tokens to summon the Ancient Gear Golem!"

In place of Crowler's tokens stood a giant robotic creature with the working gears clearly seen. Once again the audience was amazed at the sight of the monster, more so than its stats (3000/3000).

"There it is! That's his legendary rare card!" Alexis gasped.

Even Zane's eyes widened a bit as he observed the duel. "Now it looks like we're about to find out what makes it so legendary."

"Now, now, I hope you're not too scared of my legendary Ancient Gear Golem." Crowler said sarcastically toward Jaden.

Jaden just kept on smirking. "Big monster, but I've fought bigger."

This shocked many people, including Syrus. "Either Jaden's brave or he's nut!"

"He's staring down that legendary rare monster like he doesn't have a care in the world," Zane said incredulously. "I guess the youth and inexperience have their benefits."

"Give it a rest, Zane," Alexis said, getting tired of Zane's attitude. "At least the kid's showing some backbone."

"There won't be much to show after this." Zane retorted.

Dr. Crowler cackled. "I may not be able to attack due to your monsters, but my Ancient Gear Golem should keep your monsters at bay for a while." He said, finishing his turn.

 _'Even if you manage to summon a monster, I have Monster Reborn in my hand, along with a few other cards that will take out your monsters and leave you wide open for a direct attack by my Ancient Gear Beast. You have no idea what's waiting for you, Slacker.'_

"Oh man, Jaden's doesn't stand a chance!" Syrus fretted as he watched the duel. "Even though his two monsters can stop him from attacking, it's only a matter of time before Dr. Crowler finds a way to get rid of one of the Valkyries and then attack the other one, and it's defense points were way too low."

His shoulders slumped and he shook his head. "This doesn't look good."

"And in that case scenario it would only get worse," Bastion said as he remembered what he knew about Ancient Gear Golem. "When Ancient Gear Golem attacks a monster in defense mode, the difference between its attack points and the opposing monster's defense points are dealt to the opponent as damage."

"So that means no matter what Jaden does, his life points are going to get hit!" Syrus exclaimed, worried for Jaden.

"Well, it may not be completely hopeless. If your friend's as good as he says he is, he still may be able to turn this duel around." Bastion pointed out.

"Wow, did we really seem like friends?" Syrus asked, feeling sheepish.

Jaden's mind was working a thousand miles a minute, trying to see what Crowler's strategy was, if he had one at all. He was also trying to work out a plan of his own. _'Okay, he has no face-downs and a behemoth of a monster in front of him, and if I recall correctly when that monster attacks, all spells and traps become useless. So, I need to think of a way to get rid of that monster and then strike, hard!'_

He looked at the two cards in his hand. _'These guys won't be able to help me in this situation, it all depends on what card I draw right now.'_

Jaden drew his next card and made a split decision. "I play Pot of Greed, and get two extra cards."

He drew his new cards and looked at them. They were Magical Dimension and Chaos Command Magician.

 _'I knew my deck wouldn't fail me.'_ Jaden thought, smiling, already having a plan in mind that would end this duel.

"You underestimated me, doc, and that's going to cost you this duel. I play the spell Magical Dimension!" As Jaden activated the spell, Crowler became surprised and scared, knowing what this card did.

"Now, I sacrifice one of my Magician's Valkyries to summon my Chaos Command Magician!" A gold and black coffin appeared. It opened and drew in one of red-headed magicians and closed. It then reopened and released a blue-skinned spellcaster. It wore dark green robes and a hood with a scepter of the same color with a red sphere jewel on the top (2400/1900).

"And now for the second effect of my spell. I can send one of my opponent's monsters to the graveyard. And I can't think of anyone more perfect than your Ancient Gear Golem." The coffin came up behind the ancient robot and sucked it into the graveyard.

"Now I switch my remaining Magician's Valkyrie to attack mode." The last red haired magic girl stood into an attacking position.

"Now, my magicians, attack directly!" Both mages crossed scepters and charged up magical their energy and struck Crowler dead on, knocking him down with a shout.

Crowler: 0  
Jaden: 4000

Jaden pointed his index and middle fingers at Crowler in a kind of salute. "That's game!" He exclaimed. "So, I guess I pass the test, huh teach?"

As the holograms faded, a lot of people were stunned to see that Jaden had beat a teacher, who was using his real deck, in a duel, and without losing a single life point, too. Crowler was dumbfounded by the whole thing.

"Impossible," Crowler seethed. "There's no way that this delinquent could beat me!"

Up in the stands, Chazz and his flunkies were just as shocked.

"It must be dumb luck," Chazz muttered through clenched teeth. "No way Crowler would lose to some flunky!"

Alexis on the other hand was smiling at Jaden's win. "This kid's got a future here."

She then noticed that Zane just huffed and walked away. What Alexis didn't know was that Zane was wondering why there was something familiar about this boy. He dueled with the same confidence and skill as Benjamin Kaiba, who he had met in his first year at Duel Academy. Ben had told him that he had a little brother that was going to go to this school, but this kid had a different last name. They couldn't be the same person could they?

Syrus was cheering for Jaden. "Yay! Way to play, Jay!"

 _'Nice,'_ Bastion thought as he watched Jaden wave to the crowd. _'I could use the competition.'_

Jaden waved to the crowd some more, then took out the Winged Kuriboh card he had received that morning. "Sorry I didn't get the chance to use you," He apologized, still smiling. "But I get the feeling, I'll get another chance in the future."

Winged Kuriboh appeared on his shoulder in spirit form and nodded. Jaden just knew that he was going to be a good addition to his deck.

 _Later that night_

After the exams, Jaden said goodbye to Syrus and Bastion and headed home. When he got there, his parents' old friends, whom he had referred to as his aunts and uncles, were there to hear how things had went. It was rare that they were all there, since Tea was busy with her dancing career, Ryou was busy as a doctor, Tristan worked long hours as a cop, Duke was running his own game shop, the Ishtars were running back and forth between Egypt and Japan, Rebecca was almost always in America, and Valon, Mai, Alister, and Raphael were always on the move and almost never stayed in the same place (A/N The dark sides are with them too, they had been given a second chance).

They were there to hear how things went at the exams, and they were all thrilled to hear that he had passed in flying colors. They had all stayed and caught up for a while, before everyone headed home. Jaden was dressed for bed and was finishing up some things in his room before going to sleep.

"I'm so excited! I'm finally going to my dad's school!" Jaden said, totally hyped, even though he hated school. Don't get him wrong, he's smart, he's a Kaiba after all, but he also felt there was a lot of stuff in school you learn that is beyond unnecessary.

 _"I can only imagine the excitement."_ Haou said with a whole lot of sarcasm, given as how unless Jaden was in great danger or distress, he didn't care.

 _"Come on Haou, try to be happy. Think of it as an adventure."_ Judai chided, trying to get Haou to lighten up a little.

 _"Then I know we're in danger because all our adventures seem to lead us to trouble."_ Haou countered, which got a laugh from Jaden listening to the spirits argue.

After getting things done, he used a quick spell to get his room picked up, and then went to bed.

 **Well that's chapter one.**

 **Sakura: Why do I get the feeling that things are going to get a little crazy?**

 **Because it's Duel Academy! Anyway, read and review, nicely! See you next time!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, I'm back with the crew, ready for chapter 2. As for any of my critics, this is my fanfiction, I shall write as I wish. Also, I know Atem didn't have any children, but this is my story and in my story, Atem had a son.**

 **Sakura: People can be so rude sometimes.**

 **Antonio: Hey at least some people were nice about it.**

 **Yeah. Anyway, Wilma, could you do the disclaimer, please.**

 **Wilma: Alright. Wolf does not own Yu-gi-oh or Yu-gi-oh GX, if she did Joey and Seto would have gotten together in the anime.**

 **Here we go!**

 **Crystal: Enjoy!**

Chapter 2: Making Friends and Enemies

Jaden had gotten up early and grabbed his things. After saying goodbye to his parents and siblings, he headed for the docks where the plane was waiting to take him and all the other duelists who passed the exams to the island where Duel Academy was located. Since he was pretending to be an average kid, he couldn't take the Blue-Eyes Jet, which he was bummed about since he liked the jet.

All the students were given a slip to show where they were sitting on the plane, Jaden was happy to see he was sitting next to Syrus and he could tell that Syrus was glad to be next to him too. Syrus took the window seat, while Jaden took the aisle seat, though they didn't talk much on the ride. Syrus stared out the window while Jaden listened to music and read a book.

"Attention passengers," The captain said over the intercom. "This is your captain speaking. If you look out your window you'll see your new home away from home."

Most of the students did just that and saw the island coming into view. It was mostly green due to all the forested areas and it even had a dormant volcano. But the main attraction would be the main building in the center of the island. It was silver and surrounded by four gold spires. It also had three different colored roofs, in red, yellow and blue, coming off the main building.

"Quite a sight, isn't it? Alright, please fasten your seatbelts and put your seats in an upright position as we make our descent. Next stop, Academy Island!"

 _A short time later_

After a couple hours, Jaden was standing in a large room that you would find in a university. Before getting there, they had to change into their school uniforms. As he planned, Jaden was wearing the Slifer uniform which is a red jacket and boots with a black shirt and black jeans instead of the white uniform pants.

He noticed Bastion was wearing the Ra uniform which is a yellow jacket with black pants. Syrus was with him in the red dorm, so he was wearing a similar uniform to his.

Moments later, a middle aged man appeared on the big screen in front of them. He was bald with a goatee and wore a red blazer that was darker than the Slifer jackets over a shirt and tie. Jaden knew he was the principal, because he was one of only a few people who knew who he really was.

"Good morning and welcome my students," He said in a pleasant tone. "I'm Chancellor Sheppard, the headmaster her at Duel Academy, and you are the best and brightest duelists in the world. Now please, get yourselves settled into your assigned dorms. I hope you find them to be quite comfortable, depending on how you ranked of course." He finished with a slight chuckle.

After that, the students walked out of the main building and headed off to their assigned rooms. Jaden had decided to wait for Syrus and Bastion, so he was sitting by one of the stone statues in the courtyard, looking through his Duel Pilot, a PDA that they gave to all the students that showed student IDs, grades, dueling credits that you got from winning duels that you could trade at the card shop for booster packs, and rank and room number.

"Okay, so I'm in Slifer Red, just like I wanted." Jaden said, looking through his pilot.

"You wanted to be in Slifer Red?" asked a voice from behind him. He turned to see Bastion and Syrus standing there.

Thankfully, Jaden had a cover story ready.

"Yeah, I want to start from the bottom and work my way up," Jaden lied. "It's a lesson I learned from my dad, you want to get somewhere earn it."

' _That and I don't want people to know that I'm A, the middle child of Seto Kaiba and B, I don't want fangirls all over me like my brother.'_

"Sounds like a tough dad." Bastion commented.

"Tough but fair," Jaden conceded, before changing the subject. "So what dorm are you guys in?"

"I'm in the Slifer dorm with you." Syrus answered.

"Well, let's see, yellow sleeves, yellow buttons. I'm in Ra Yellow dorm." Bastion answered, smart alecky.

Jaden caught that and glared slightly. "What? You ever think I'm color blind?"

"Actually, no I didn't. Are you color blind?" Bastion asked, blinking in surprise.

The brunette laughed. "No, but I could've been."

He then got up with stretch. "Come on Sy, let's head to our dorm. See you in class, Bastion."

Syrus nodded and said good bye to Bastion to, and with that the boys went their separate ways.

 _Slifer Dorm_

Both the new Slifer students found their way to their building. But the place was hardly a dorm and Syrus was quick to voice his opinion.

"This isn't a dorm! It's an outhouse with a deck!"

Actually, it looked more like an old motel. But Jaden didn't care, already leaning over the railing to take in the view of the ocean nearby.

"No way!" He said. "Check out the view, this place is great!"

They next went to their assigned room. "Alrighty, this is our room Syrus."

Inside was a long, two-seated desk along the left wall, a window straight across from the door, a three-person bunk bed along the right wall, and a little stove near the door.

"It's kinda small, though." Syrus commented on the small room.

"Hey, you're a small guy," Jaden cracked. "But anyway, I like it! It's a good place to start our first year!"

"Yeah, kinda weird meeting up at the entrance exams, and now we're roommates," Syrus pointed out, starting to daydream about them in royal Egyptian clothing. "You think we're connected in some kind of ancient past life?"

"No offense, but I highly doubt that." Jaden said, covering up his amusement at how close Syrus had gotten to the truth without even realizing it.

" _Actually, now that I think about it, he looks very similar to a priest-in-training that I knew."_ Judai piped up, appearing next to Jaden briefly.

Jaden went wide-eyed and stared at Syrus for a minute.

"What?" Syrus asked, taken aback at being stared at.

"Nothing." Jaden said quickly, turning away blushing making Syrus confused.

Jaden walked over and opened the curtains, letting the light stream in. "Let's get some light in here."

"Hey! Those were closed for a reason." Came an angry voice from the top bunk.

"Sorry." Syrus said.

"Yeah, we didn't see you up there." Jaden added.

"Well can you see me now?!" The covers pulled back revealing an angry, heavy-set boy with a face and hair that made him look like a koala.

Syrus suddenly screamed in fear at the sight of the other boy. He clung to Jaden almost knocking him over.

"Will you stop your screaming?! Who are you and what are you doing in my room?!"

"Oh sorry, my name's Jaden Yuki!" Jaden said, pushing Syrus off of him.

"And I'm Syrus."

"We're your new…" Jaden tried to explain himself, but the boy in bed turned his back to the new kids. "...roommates?"

"You're new alright, so lemme tell you how things work," The boy muttered grouchily.

"Like when parents visit is?" Syrus asked.

"Duh, like how the whole color thing works. That's more important than anything," The older boy began to explain. "There are three kinds of students here. There's the Obelisk Blue students, the Ra Yellow students, and the Slifer Red students. Now, the Obelisk Blue students are the highest ranking students. Most through grades, others through connections. Ra Yellow students are really gifted kids with lots of potential. And then, there's us, the Red Wonders…"

"The Wonders," Syrus murmured. "That doesn't sound so bad."

The large boy continued, ignoring Syrus' comment. "As in 'I wonder how reject like us ever got this far'. Sorry, but a lot of people look down on us because we're the lowest rank, nothing but the bottom of the barrel."

Jaden and Syrus looked at each other for a few minutes before the sleeping boy remembered to introduce himself. "Oh, I'm Chumley by the way. Nice to meet you."

 _A short time latter_

Jaden and Syrus were walking around, Jaden trying to get Syrus out of his depression that he had sunk into by what Chumley had said.

"Come on Sy, you can't still be depressed over what happened."

"But Chumley said we Slifers were the worst." Syrus moaned.

" _Man, this kid is a wet blanket!"_ Came a voice beside him. It belonged to the spirit of Eria the Water Charmer.

Then the spirit of Aussa the Earth Charmer appeared and gave Eria a Gibbs slap. " _Eria, be nice."_

" _That was nice. Besides the kid's a total wuss! Look at him!"_ Eria argued, gesturing at Syrus.

" _Guys, calm down."_ Jaden responded using the mind link so Syrus wouldn't ask why he was talking to thin air, but they weren't listening.

" _Ugh, you are such a worrywart! It's the truth! The kid hears one bad thing and he goes completely emo!"_ Eria shouted, still harping about Syrus.

" _You can't just judge someone like that, Eria!"_ Aussa reprimanded.

It was then that both girls were zapped by thunderbolts to the point they were knocked out. Knowing who caused the thunderbolts Jaden sweatdropped when another of his spirits, Maha Vailo, appeared and picked up the two girls by the backs of their shirts.

" _Was that absolutely necessary Maha?"_ Jaden asked, though this wasn't the first time he had intervened in Eria and Aussa's fights like that.

The silent spirit just shrugged and disappeared with the other two spellcasters in tow.

He then turned back to Syrus. "Syrus, rank doesn't mean anything. I mean you saw my duel, and I had said that I wanted to be in Slifer. Plus, Slifer is the best of Egyptian God cards in my opinion. Besides, the year just started, there will be chances to advance."

"I guess you're right." Syrus reasoned, cheering up a bit.

"Now, come on, let's go explore the main building before dinner!" Jaden suggested running ahead to the main building.

"Hey, wait up!" Syrus called, running after him.

 _Main Building_

From a plane the main building was impressive, but up close it was even better. Jaden had to admit his brother hadn't been exaggerating about the place.

"Man, Ben was right, this place it great."

"Who's Ben?" Syrus asked, having caught up with Jaden a moment ago.

"He's my older brother. He graduated from here a year ago." Jaden said. He didn't see a reason to hide the fact.

"Well, let's go inside." Walking inside, Jaden decided he wanted to go check out the main arena, his brother had said it was pretty cool.

"Hey, Jaden, do you know where we're going?" Syrus asked, following his new friend.

"Yeah, my brother told me that main arena was something I needed to check out!" The secret Kaiba said, kind of avoiding the actual question.

They soon came to a large room, realizing it was an arena. The place was huge, with stands all around the walls, and a dueling platform in the middle with wires coming out of the base.

"Wow this is awesome!" Jaden said, jumping up onto the platform.

"Yeah totally state of the art." Syrus was looking at the field technology, when he suddenly became worried about something. "Are we allowed in here?"

"Sure, we're students here and this is our campus." Jaden pointed out.

"Wrong. This is the Obelisk Blue campus. No Slifer slackers." They all turned to see two guys in Obelisk blazers. They were same guys who were hanging out with Chazz; Torimaki and Raizou.

"Oh, really?" Jaden said, not liking these guys at all.

"That's right," Raizou pointed behind them. "Check out the crest!"

The duo turned to see a large symbol in the shape of Obelisk the Tormentor's head above the entrance to the duel arena.

"This is Blue territory. No Reds allowed!" Torimaki sneered.

Syrus shrank away from them. "Oh, sorry. We didn't know. We'll leave, right guys?" he asked, looking at Jaden, practically begging him with his eyes.

The brunette shrugged. "Don't worry Sy, we don't have to leave. Not unless…" He turned to the Obelisk snobs with a glint of mischief in his eyes. "One of you guys agree to duel me. I'll be a guest duelist."

The blue haired student looked at Jaden a moment. "Wait a minute, you're that kid!"

Before either Slifer could say anything, the brown haired snob turned to someone up in the stands. "Hey Chazz! The applicant who beat Dr. Crowler is here!"

The two reds turned to see a taller boy in blue with spiky black hair and cold gray eyes staring down at them, specifically at Jaden. Jaden stared back at the boy for a few moments before waving at him.

"Hey, what up? I'm Jaden and your name is uh … Chuzz was it?" He asked, looking at the Obelisk snobs with a slight smirk.

The kid growled while Jaden smirked even more. He loved messing with rich brats.

"He's Chazz Princeton and he was the number one duelist back at Duelist Prep School, so you be sure to pay him the proper respect!" The blue haired teen snapped.

His friend nodded, "He's gonna be the next King of Games, the best duelist in the world!".

Jaden scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest, in a manner his dad would be proud of. "Impossible!"

"Say what?" Raizou asked confused.

"It's impossible for him to be the next King of Games because that's what I'm going to be." Jaden explained with a confident grin.

The Obelisk boys stared at him before laughing at what they just heard and then stopped laughing and glared at Jaden, "You? A Slifer Slacker, the next King of Games? That'll be the day!"

" _Summon me to real and let me burn them to the Shadow Realm, please! Nobody will know, they'll think it was spontaneous combustion!"_ Hiita the Fire Charmer appeared seething, hating those who disrespected her master.

Jaden just glanced her with a look that said 'no'.

"Can it, you two!" a cold voice snapped. Chazz walked down the ramp a bit to get into their view some more. "Maybe the new kid has a point."

"Uh, whatcha mean Chazz?" Torimaki asked, confused.

"He _did_ beat Crowler after all … and that legendary monster of his. I suppose that takes _some_ skill." Jaden didn't say anything, knowing that an insult was going to come out of that. "Or was it luck? I say we figure that right now."

Jaden looked Chazz dead in the eye. "Bring it!"

" _Well this should be interesting."_ Haou muttered, but also not liking this guy.

"Well, this certainly is a motley crew." said a new voice.

They all turned to see another Obelisk walking towards. It was a girl Obelisk with long sandy blond hair. Her name was Alexis Rhodes.

"Wow… who's she?" Syrus asked.

Jaden shrugged.

Chazz smirked. "Hey, Alexis. You come to watch me mop the floor with me new friend Jaden? I promise it'll be a short match, but an entertaining one."

Alexis crossed her arms and lightly glared at him. "I came to remind you guys about the Obelisk's Welcome Dinner, you're late."

"Oh, yeah," Chazz mumbled, getting up and walking away. "Come on guys." The other two followed him.

"Sorry if Chazz rubbed you the wrong way," Alexis said as she turned towards them. "Not all us Obelisks are like that. He's just a jerk, especially with Slifers."

"Ah, it's no big deal." Jaden said in a laid back tone. "Types like them don't bother us much."

Alexis looked at him, surprised at the reaction. "Besides, If I get the right cards in my hand I could take him down in one turn."

"We gotta work on that overconfidence." Syrus commented.

"It's not overconfidence, it's a possibility." Jaden stated.

Alexis looked at him for a moment before she and Syrus started laughing, leaving the Kaiba heir confused. "What's so funny?"

Alexis then remembered something. "Oh, the Slifer Welcoming Dinner is starting too."

"Well then, we better get there before the food's gone." Jaden said before running down the exit tunnel.

"Hey, wait up!" Syrus called as he ran after him.

Just before they left, Jaden stopped and turned back to the female Obelisk. "By the way, what was your name again?" He asked.

Alexis blinked, surprised, then smiled, "Alexis Rhodes! And you are?"

"Jaden Yuki!" He replied. "See ya around!" And with that he took off again.

"Why didn't you introduce me?" Syrus asked running after him.

"Jaden…" Alexis whispered, testing out the name. She smiled as she watched to two boys run.

 _Slifer Dorm_

Later that evening, all the welcome dinners had started. The dinner at the blue dorm was like a fancy ball, with gourmet food, punch bowls and classical music being played by actual musicians in the background.

At the girls dorm, the dinner was just like that at the boys dorm only with all girls.

At the Ra Yellow dorm, the dinner wasn't as glamorous as the blues' dinner but they still had a great dinner with food you would find at a five star restaurant.

At the Slifer dorm, the food was basically take out. It was basically a small bowl of rice, and sardines with sauce. Naturally, most of the Slifers were complaining.

"This is our big, fancy welcome dinner?" One complained to no one in particular.

"Forget the dinner, look at our headmaster! It's a cat!" Another said pointing at a fat, brown tabby taking a snooze at the front of the room.

That joke died when a tall skinny man with long black hair in a ponytail and small round glasses came into the dining area. He seemed nice, and at least he didn't look like Crowler.

"Hello children, My name is Professor Banner," he greeted in a pleasant tone. "Before we eat, I would like everyone to say something about themselves." Banner spoke earnestly.

Jaden was only half listening to what was being said. He was talking with Mystical Elf through his mental link, talking about the day.

" _I'm glad you're settling in well, Jaden, but are you sure about this plan to hide as someone else? No one can live a lie for long."_ Mystical Elf warned, being the ever overbearing mother figure she was.

After his mom died, Mystical Elf had stepped into that void and he was thankful for it. She didn't stop even after Joey came into the picture.

" _I know, but this could be my only chance to be normal. At all my other schools, I was treated like an unapproachable prince and I had a hoard of fangirls stalking me making sure it stayed that way."_ Jaden countered, with a hint of exasperation.

He hated being treated like royalty, it was annoying. Plus, it was hard to tell who was really your friend or who was just hanging around you for the benefits of it. This way, he knew they were his real friends, because there were no benefits of hanging out with a Slifer red commoner.

" _Alright, but you can't hide forever Jaden. You will eventually have to tell them who you are."_ Mystical Elf warned, before vanishing.

Jaden sighed before tuning back into the conversation. He knew she was right, but one can dream.

 _A while later_

Later that evening in the red dorm, Jaden was relaxing in his room with his roommates. Judai and Haou were also there, but only Jaden could see them. "Professor Banner's certainly a good cook."

"Yeah, and he seems like a pretty nice guy as well." Syrus agreed, coming over to where the boys were sitting with a tray of tea mugs.

Chumley was up in his bunk like he was sleeping, but he was awake.

"Yeah, he's good people!" Jaden agreed, taking one of cups. "Thanks, Sy!"

"Hey, Chumley, want some tea?" Sy asked the grouchy boy on the top bunk.

"Did I say I was thirsty?" Chumley responded rudely, turning away from them.

"Hey, he just asked if you wanted some tea, no need to snap at him!" Jaden scolded.

"That's okay, Jaden. I'm used to it." Syrus said glumly.

" _Mental note, help Syrus grow a spine."_ Haou quipped, which got him a look from Judai, even though he also kind of agreed.

"Duh, tea makes you wet the bed!" Chumley argued, then realized what he was implying. "Not that I do or ever did…I mean…whatever I'm trying to sleep!"

Syrus and Jaden just looked at each other and Judai and Haou looked at where Chumley was. Their thoughts were interrupted by a beeping, ring like sound. In the quiet, Jaden realized it was his PDA signaling he had a video message. Checking it, Chazz's face showed up along with a message.

 _"Hey Slifer Slacker, don't think you're off the hook, tonight at midnight it's on. Oh, and why don't we make it interesting. Whoever wins, gets the other guys best card."_ with that the video message ended.

"I was wondering how long it would take for this to happen," Jaden said, closing his PDA. "Looks like I get to duel at that arena after all."

"If that's Chazz your dueling all you've got is trouble." Chumley mentioned, rolling over slightly.

" _Finally, let's go put that snob in his place."_ Haou said in a dangerous tone.

" _I'm with Haou on this one. Let's show Chazz that rank isn't everything."_ The Egyptian prince agreed.

Jaden nodded lightly before grabbing his gear.

 _Obelisk Arena_

"I'm not so sure this is a good idea Jaden." Syrus said, following his new friend to the arena they were in earlier.

"Good or bad, when someone challenges you to a duel you gotta step up. There's no choice." Jaden said, repeating a similar lesson his older brother taught him years ago.

Syrus made an unsure sound, but didn't say anything else.

They reached the arena and found Chazz and his flunkies on the other side of the arena.

"Well, well, well, he showed." Chazz commented.

"You better believe it. I don't back down from challenge." Jaden said striding forward.

"Wait up!" Syrus said, right behind him.

"Time to find out if you beating Dr. Crowler was a fluke or a fact." Chazz said, getting up on the platform.

"Yeah, well, we're going to find something else out too," Jaden responded. "Like whether or not rank actually means something around here."

"Yeah, yeah, just be sure to have your best card ready to hand over when you lose." Chazz sneered.

"You too," Jaden said, going into battle mode. "Now game on!"

Both duel disks were now on and their hands had been drawn. "Duel!"

Chazz: 4000

Jaden: 4000

"Alright Slacker," Chazz drew his card and looked over his hand. "For my first move, I'll summon Chthonian Soldier in attack mode."

A man in dark armor with a large sword appeared on the field (1200/1400). "And that'll do for now."

"I'm up!" Jaden said. He drew his card and looked over his hand.

As he was thinking over his move, he heard a familiar coo sound and looked to see that his Kuriboh card had moved a little as if peeking out from hiding. ' _Hey, good to see you Winged Kuriboh. I'm going to think that drawing you on my first turn was a good omen. I'll use you later, but first...'_

"I set a monster face-down in defense mode! Then I also set a card face-down and end my turn!" The two cards appeared on the field as Jaden ended his turn. "There…all set."

Chazz drew his next card. "Yeah, setup to get knocked down! Rise, Chthonian Soldier!"

Another man in dark armor with a large sword appeared next to the first (1200/1400).

"Why would Chazz play two of the same monster?" Syrus asked meekly.

"I had a feeling I'd find you guys here." Syrus turned around to see Alexis walking up to them.

"By having two monsters on the field, Chazz can attack Jaden directly once he destroys his face down monster." she explained.

"Oh no!" Syrus gasped, looking back at the field.

"I attack your face down monster with my Chthonian Soldier! Go Windstorm Slash!" Chazz said smugly.

The dark clad warrior leapt at the face down card and swung his sword. Except the face down monster revealed itself to be a familiar looking spellcaster elf with long blond hair, blue skin, and a long green dress (800/2000).

However, she wasn't looking as serene as she usually did, in fact she looked downright ticked that someone would dare harm the boy she saw as both her master and son. When the warrior got close enough, she flung open her arms and spoke a phrase and then Chthonian Soldier was struck by a beam of light.

Chazz: 3200

Jaden: 4000

"What the?!" Chazz exclaimed, as he lost life points. "You sneak! That was a trick!"

"Get off his case, Chazz." Alexis defended from she stood. "It's not his fault you made a mistake."

"She's right, it's completely your own fault." Jaden added in, adding fuel to the fire.

Chazz growled, knowing they were right. "I set two cards face down and end my turn."

"My move then!" Jaden drew his next card and automatically saw a plan. "I play Tribute to the Doomed! This may cost me my next draw phase, but I also get to destroy one of your monsters so I think it's a fair trade off!"

"What?!" Chazz complained, as one of his Chthonian Soldier was wrapped in linen and destroyed.

"Next, I summon Maha Vailo in attack mode!" The lightning spellcaster from earlier appeared with his scythe like adornments flashing in the arena lighting (1550/1400).

"And I'll switch Mystical Elf to attack mode while I'm at it!" The blond elf rose to her feet ready to attack when ordered.

"Now Maha Vailo, attack the other Chthonian Soldier with Sacred Lightning Blast!" Palms up right, Maha Vailo began to chant a spell that caused dark clouds to form in the air. The dark clouds sent down lightning, which he absorbed into his hands, causing electricity to form around them before launching it at the warrior.

Chazz: 2850

Jaden: 4000

Chazz growled, but then smirked, confusing Jaden. Then something caught his eye. The fallen soldier's sword rose above them as the smoke cleared and flew straight at Jaden, hitting him in the stomach, making Mystical Elf and Maha Vailo turn in horror that Jaden had been hurt. Jaden almost doubled over from the pain, but managed to stay on his feet.

Chazz: 2850

Jaden: 3650

"Surprise, Slacker! When Chthonian Soldier is destroyed, you take the same amount of damage to your life points that I did." Chazz said still smug.

" _Jaden, are you alright?"_ The blond elf asked, feeling ashamed that she couldn't help her master.

Maho Vailo bowed his head in shame, since his attack is what caused this.

" _I'm okay, don't worry, it wasn't your fault. None of us saw that effect coming. Now let's get some payback!"_ Jaden cheered.

The two monsters nodded before they turned their attention back to the front, as did Jaden. "This isn't over, Chazz! Don't forget Mystical Elf still has an attack to use and she wants payback!"

The aforementioned monster chanted a quick spell before launching an orb of light at Chazz, making him grunt at the impact.

Chazz: 850

Jaden: 3650

"Alright!" Syrus cheered, Jaden sending a peace sign over his shoulder.

"Nice moves, Jaden." Alexis praised.

"More like lucky moves if you ask me, you Slifer school scum." Chazz retorted, glaring daggers at Jaden as he played his next card. "Alright I activate Chthonian Blast! Since you destroyed one of my monsters I get to destroy one of yours and you take damage equal to half of it's attack points."

A tornado formed around Maha and then he burst into pixels.

Chazz: 850

Jaden: 2875

"Oh no!" Jaden gritted as his monster was destroyed.

"Now, I activate the trap card Call of the Haunted!" Chazz continued as his second face down popped up revealing a haunted graveyard.

"It lets me select on monster that's in my graveyard and summon it back to the field in attack mode. Rise Chthonian Soldier!" The dark armored warrior reappeared on the field (1200/1400).

"But he won't be staying on the field for long, because I'm going to sacrifice him to summon Mefist the Infernal General!" Chthonian Soldier burst into pixels and then a dark armored, mounted horseman with a giant ax appeared (1800/1700).

"Not bad." Jaden commented, looking at the mounted horseman in front of him.

"Not bad?" Chazz looked at him before continuing. "You're something else, you know that Slacker? Acting all confident, but your lousy monsters won't get you out of this jam."

Jaden looked down at the cards in his hand before hearing the familiar voice of Winged Kuriboh, who appeared next to him in spirit form. ' _I know he's wrong Winged Kuriboh, because you, me, and the rest of my monsters share a bond that Chazz won't ever be able to break.'_

He smiled and glanced at Mystical Elf, who smiled in encouragement. ' _And speaking of bonds…'_

Before Jaden could make his move, Alexis turned to the entrance, thinking she had heard footsteps. When she confirmed she had she turned back to the group with wide eyes. "Uh, Guys! We've got company! Campus Security! If they find us all in here we'll get seriously busted!"

"What?!" Syrus yelped.

Jaden looked back at her. ' _Oh man, I completely forgot about them!'_

Thinking Jaden didn't understand, Alexis huffed and pulled out her PDA. "The rules say no off hour arena duels! Chazz _knows_ that but lemme guess he didn't tell?"

Said Obelisk blushed at being found out.

"C'mon, let's go!" The blue haired Obelisk leaned forward from he was watching, the other one looking scared at the thought of getting caught.

"Well, well, Slacker, looks like you lucked out this time." Chazz said, turning to leave.

"This isn't over Chazz." Jaden said seriously, turning off his duel disk.

"You're right, it's not." Chazz then hopped off the platform and walked out the arena.

"Jaden we gotta get out of here!" Syrus urged.

"He's right!" Alexis agreed, looking ready to bolt.

"C'mon let's go!" Syrus was practically begging now.

Jaden nodded and then followed them out of the arena, shutting the lights off on the way out. It was like no one was ever in there. After a while, they made it to the entrance of the main building.

"Thanks for showing me the back way out." Syrus said.

"Sure, I'm sorry you didn't get to finish your match with Chazz." The Obelisk female smiled.

"It's okay, I know just how it would have ended anyway." Jaden replied casually.

"Really?" Alexis asked, Jaden turning to look at her. "No offense but from my point of view, it looked like it could have gone either way between you and Chazz before you guys stopped."

"Not if you have this in your hand." Jaden showed her the card he had. It was the spell card Dark Magic Curtain.

Alexis gasped and Jaden smirked. He would have summoned Dark Magician to the field and destroyed Mefist, and then attack with Mystical Elf, taking Chazz out.

Jaden smiled. "See ya." he said, heading back to the dorm.

"Hey, wait up!" Syrus called, running to catch up with his roommate.

She watched them leave before smiling slightly. ' _This is going to be an interesting year.'_

 **Well, that's that.**

 **Sakura: Dang, Chazz was close to the wire!**

 **Yeah, and next time it'll be Jaden vs. Alexis.**

 **Zachary: This'll be good.**

 **Read and review and stay tuned! And Happy Holidays from me and the gang!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys, it's time for chapter 3.**

 **Wilma: Wolf does not own Yu-gi-oh or Yu-gi-oh GX, if she did Joey and Seto would have gotten together in the anime.**

 **Lance: On with the story!**

Chapter 3: Another Late Night Duel

It was next morning at Duel Academy and the start of classes. The seating chart was so that first years were toward the front and the higher grades were near toward the back. However, since the Obelisks did pretty much got whatever they wanted, it was more like Slifers at the bottom, Ras in the middle, and the Obelisks at the top. Jaden made a mental note to talk to his dad about this.

Anyway, soon everyone was seated and class began, the first one being Dr. Crowler, who started by quizzing them to see what they already knew about duel monsters. He had started by asking Alexis the different categories of monsters and their sub-groupings.

"Duel monster cards can be grouped into normal monster cards, fusion monster cards, ritual monster cards, effect monster cards, trap cards, and spell cards. Trap cards can be divided into normal traps, counter traps, and continuous traps. Spell cards can be separated into normal spells, continuous spells, equip spells, quick-play spells, ritual spells, and field spells." Alexis addressed the entire class.

"Perfect!" Crowler praised. "Well done, Alexis! Of course, I wouldn't have expected anything less from one of my blue Obelisks!"

"Yes, Dr. Crowler." Alexis responded as she sat back down.

"Hmm, now who should we question next?" The doctor directed his attention toward the lower seats "You, Syrus Truesdale, please tell the class what a field spell is."

Syrus tried but because of his test anxiety he just stuttered the whole time. "If you can't answer a simple question like that then sit down," Dr. Crowler said after a few minutes.

After that Syrus sat down, thoroughly embarrassed, much to Jaden's anger.

' _What a jerk,'_ he thought, glaring daggers at Crowler.

" _You know, if you want, I can teach him a lesson he won't soon forget."_ Haou mentioned, nonchalantly, as if he makes the suggestion often, which he does.

" _No, Haou, I can do it myself,"_ Jaden responded, before speaking up. "You know you really shouldn't diss Slifers, doc. I mean, I beat you and aren't I a Slifer? So that means that in the end, you're just insulting yourself."

This got a laugh out of everyone at the expression Crowler made.

' _That's it!'_ Crowler thought in fury, looking at Jaden who had a smug look on his face, ' _I won't tolerate this Slifer Slacker any longer! It's time I get him removed from this school, permanently!"_

 _Next Class_

Thankfully the next class was being taught by the Slifer headmaster. "Hello class, my name is Professor Lyman Banner. I specialize in teaching some of the lesser known tactics of duel monsters, tactics that some might even call unnatural…"

While he was talking, Syrus leaned over towards Jaden, who was listening with genuine interest, and whispered, "Thanks for standing up for me, Jaden."

Jaden gave Sy a smile. "No prob, Sy."

 _Crowler's Office_

Since he didn't have a class for a while, Crowler was writing a letter with a feather pen and still fuming over what had happened earlier.

"How dare that Slifer Slacker Jaden make a mockery of me in front of my class like that!" He grumbled, folding the letter and placing it in an envelope. "It'll be the last mistake he makes at this academy!"

He then picked up a mirror and started applying red lipstick to his lips. When he finished, he kissed that front of the letter where the folds met.

"Aah! The big kiss-off!" He laughed manically as he set to put his plan into action.

 _Gym Class_

Later, Jaden was in the gym some other students for their next class with Fonda Fontaine, who was also the school's nurse and head of the Obelisk girl's dorm. He had changed into gym clothes and waited for the teacher to show up.

The spellcaster duelist noticed that Syrus was nowhere to be seen. "Hmm? I wonder where Sy is?"

" _Would like one of us to go look for him?"_ The spirit of Fog King asked, appearing beside him.

" _No, I think he's just running late, it'll be fine."_ Jaden answered, deciding not to send out a duel spirit search party. There wasn't anything sinister on the island so there wasn't any cause for a alarm.

Meanwhile, in the boy's locker room, Crowler was sneaking around while chuckling sinisterly.

"Now, to plant the bait where Jaden will be sure to find it." Crowler said, searching the lockers for the one he thought was Jaden's. He believed he found it when he saw Jaden's boots at the bottom.

"Ah! His shoes!" He chuckled again, placing the letter on them and quickly left.

Back at the gym, the teacher, a woman with brown hair in a bun wearing gym clothes, finally showed up and walked to the front of the class.

"Hi everyone! My name is Fonda Fontaine, and I'll be your gym instructor for this semester! You ready to sweat?!" She spoke in a perky voice.

Jaden got a look that said 'kill me' while hearing the voices of his past selves laughing at his misfortune.

During this time, Syrus had been running late and had just gotten to the boy's locker room.

"Lousy girl's gym!" He said running towards his locker, trying to pull his shoes off as he went. "They should make the signs bigger."

When he opened his locker, he noticed Jaden's shoes in it. "Hey, those are Jaden's sneakers. Guess he's borrowing my locker." He went to move his shoes, causing the letter on top to fall off. "Huh?"

Syrus wondered, picking up the letter to examine it. He instantly saw the lipstick mark.

"But this isn't Jaden's!" Syrus gasped, before looking around to see if anyone was nearby. He then ducked between two sets of lockers to hide, so he could read the letter in semi-privacy.

"Someone wrote me a letter?! Wonder what it says..." Syrus muttered opening the letter to read it.

"Since the moment I first saw you, I've been… in love with you!? Meet me tonight behind the girl's dorm. Endearingly… Alexis Rhodes!?" Syrus actually fell backwards after reading that.

"Oh, this sure is a lot better than what my mom usually writes me…" Syrus said before slipping into a daydream about him and Alexis getting together.

"Oh, I'm yours!" He said with a dreamy look on his face.

 _Later that night, at the Slifer Dorm_

True to her word, Ms. Fontaine had gotten everyone sweating. First she made them run laps and then split them up for three way dodgeball, which had been chaotic in Jaden's opinion.

After gym class, since it was his last class for the day, he went back to the dorm and decided to spend some time at the beach to cool down before doing his homework. After he got back, he started his homework before heading to dinner, then went to go shower before continuing with his work.

"Hey, Sy, the outhouse is all yours if you want it. I'm done." Jaden said, coming back in wearing pajamas and drying his hair with a towel.

"Sy's gonzo." Chumley said off handedly.

"Huh?" Jaden asked, surprised.

"Yeah, he just left," The older boy went on to explain. "And he was in a real good mood, too."

"A good mood?" Jaden repeated, as he wasn't sure if he heard that right, before sitting down on a stool in the room.

"That really doesn't sound like Syrus." Now Jaden was worried.

Two of his spirits, Witch of the Black Forest and Lyna the Light Charmer, agreed, so they along with three others, Magician's Valkyria, Ice Master, and Fire Sorcerer, snuck out to find the timid little Slifer.

 _The Obelisk Girl's Dorm_

The night caught Syrus in a rowboat heading towards the girl's dorm with a big, silly grin on his face.

"Alexis! I'm coming for you my darling, I'm coming!" He exclaimed, so deep in this fantasy that he didn't stop to think this was a bad idea.

Meanwhile, up at the gates, Crowler, wearing a tight, black body suit, cut the lock off with bolt cutters and headed inside. He then dashed from bush to bush in a ninja fashion as a way to get closer to the windows, so he had better light to see but also couldn't be seen. As you get closer, you can hear Alexis talking with her friends.

"Hey, Alexis, want to chill out in the Obelisk wading pool?" A girl with brown hair, named Jasmine, asked her.

"No, thanks," She declined. "We'll wade and the guys will rage. I'm not in the mood for a game of tackle marco polo."

"Hello! Girl's dorm! No guys allowed, remember?" Her friend persisted, until Alexis finally agreed.

Meanwhile, Crowler had finally gotten into a position he liked to spring his trap.

"This will be perfect, thanks to that faux love letter that I wrote!" Crowler said gleefully, going over his plan again. "Jaden will show up looking for Alexis, but all he'll find is trouble instead! Once he arrives, I'll snap a picture of him. And then… I will have caught him red-handed breaking campus rules, he will be ruined!"

However, what Crowler didn't know was that he had been overheard by the five duel spirits that had gone to look for their master's friend.

" _Aha!"_ Lyna exclaimed, peering over the bush from where she and the others were. They had been searching the woods nearby when they noticed Crowler sneaking around and decided to follow. " _So that's what's going on! This was a trap to get Jaden expelled!"_

" _But instead of Jaden, the blue haired shrimp got hold of the letter instead."_ Ice Master pointed out, bluntly.

" _Why are we hiding in a bush even though we can't be seen by normal humans?"_ Fire Sorcerer asked.

" _Still, this worries me,"_ Witch of the Black Forest said concerned, getting up from where she was crouched. " _Jaden's trying to be normal, so he won't call his father to help him. He'll accept whatever punishment he gets."_

" _Okay, new plan!"_ Magician's Valkyria took charge. " _Elsa and Shinku, you go and warn Jaden about what's happened. Icy, Lyna, and I will stay here and stick around here and see if there's a way to maintain damage control."_

Everyone nodded and the two aforementioned spirits went to got tell Jaden.

" _Say, while we're here, let's go see what those girls are talking about."_ Lyna suggested, going over to the windows of the dorm.

The other two followed her, knowing they couldn't stop her.

Since they were spirits, they passed through the window and found themselves in a wading room that was all gold and kind reminded you of a Greek bathhouse. By good chance, they were right behind the girls and could hear that their conversation had turned to their master.

"Can you believe what that Jaden kid said to Dr. Crowler in class today?" Jasmine said. "He's got some nerve to talk to a teacher like that. Completely disrespectful! Don't you think, class?"

"Actually, I thought it was kind of cool." Alexis said, in a kind of dreamy voice.

" _Well, what have we here?"_ Lyna spoke, smiling slyly at the Obelisk queen. " _Looks like someone has a crush on our master."_

" _Easy Icy."_ Valkyria addressed the ice magician, who was starting to glare quite hard as well as causing the air around her to freeze.

She was very protective of Jaden and was suspicious of anyone who got a crush on him.

"What?!" Jasmine cried in shock. "Him, cool?!"

"He could be," the black haired girl who's name was Mindy said. "If he had the talent to back up that talk maybe…"

This got all three spirits glaring daggers at the two brunettes. Nobody talked bad about their master and got away with it. Now if only they weren't in spirit form.

"I think he just might," Alexis interjected, catching the three spirits' attention. "Still, I won't know until I duel him myself."

The spellcasters smirked. Alexis should be careful what she wishes for because no one Jaden's age has beaten him yet.

Unfortunately, some girls shouting caught their attention the spirits knew what it was about without even looking.

" _Uh oh,"_ Lyna said, not liking that sound. " _That's not good. I'll go warn Jay about the turn of events, you two stay and keep an eye on things."_

With a nod from the others, Lyna flew off toward the Slifer dorm.

 _A short time later_

"A love letter from Alexis?" Mindy asked after hearing Syrus' explanation. "You've got to be kidding."

After being seen, Syrus had been tied up and was know kneeling before the Obelisk trio, being interrogated, while Ice Master and Magician's Valkyrie watched off to the side. Jasmine and Mindy had changed into pajamas and Alexis into her uniform.

"Yep! Ask her!" Syrus replied with a giggle, giving Alexis a wink.

" _What an idiot."_ Ice Master muttered, Val glaring disapprovingly at the comment.

"Um, hello," Jasmine retorted. "Like Alexis is really tall, and you're really short. She's really good at dueling, and you're really not. She's really hot-"

"But it's true, just tell them, Alexis! I even have the note right here!" Syrus protested, pulling out the letter. "Look, see?!" Jasmine took the note and the girls looked it over.

"Syrus, my name's not even spelled right there." Alexis said.

"Sorry, Syrus, but I think someone's yanking your chain here." Mindy said, but her town said she wasn't sorry at all.

"So then you don't love me?" He asked.

" _He's hopeless!"_ Magician's Valkyria facepalmed, Ice Master nodding in agreement.

"Hey, wait a second," Jasmine interrupted, looking over the letter again. "This note is made out to Jaden Yuki."

"What? Jaden?! But…" Before Sy could finish his protest, the brunette turned to him for him to see.

Sure, enough, Jaden's name was at the top of the letter. "Oh. So, I can't even get a fake love letter."

"I'm sorry, Syrus…" Alexis apologized.

"Me, too."

"I don't buy it." Jasmine wasn't ready to let the matter go.

"What?" Mindy asked her friend.

"He could've written the note to have an excuse to come here!"

" _Oh come on, Syrus is an idiot but he's not a criminal mastermind!"_ Icy protested at the girl's persistence.

"What are you saying, that we should report him for trespassing then?" Mindy asked.

"But I was invited! I swear!" Syrus persisted, now panicking slightly.

"Girls, just what on earth is going on down there?" The girls looked up at the balcony to see Ms. Fontaine looking over the rail.

The brunettes worried, but Alexis took control of the situation. "Get down! Hurry!"

The girls pushed Syrus down and pretty much sat on him to hide him from view of the gym teacher.

"All right, what's up?" Ms. Fontaine asked suspiciously.

"You guys are heavy!" Syrus grumbled, squirming under the three girls.

" _Shouldn't have said that."_ The two spirits deadpanned. Big rule, never tell a woman anything that involves her weight.

"Beg your pardon!" Jasmine snapped.

"Maybe you're just brittle!" Mindy hissed.

"Gee, sorry, Ms. Fontaine," Alexis spoke to the Obelisk headmistress. "We'll make sure to keep a lid on things!"

"Well, I should hope so, it's nearly midnight, and I have pilates in the morning!" Miss Fontaine said before heading back to her room.

As soon as they were sure she was gone, they got off of Syrus.

"So, what now?" Jasmine asked.

"I'll tell you what now, girls…" Alexis answered, crossing her arms with a smirk. "I say we use Sy here as a kind of bait to find out what we were wondering about before. Just how good Jaden really is. And I think I know just how we can get him to show us his best!"

" _Uh oh,"_ Valkyrie said, turning to Ice Master. " _We better worn the boss about this."_

After receiving a nod of agreement, the two spirits left.

 _Slifer Dorm_

Back at the red dorm, Chumley was sleeping, like usual, and Jaden was playing a video game. Witch of the Black Forest and Fire Sorcerer had returned earlier and explained the situation. Jaden sent Alexis a message explaining the situation and telling her to get Syrus out of there if he shows up. When Lyna came back and told him the situation's turn, he decided to stay up and either wait for Alexis to get back to him or wait for Syrus to get back.

"Nice, 300 move combo!"

" _You seem calm, despite the circumstances."_ Witch of the Black Forest spoke, having stayed with Jaden to help him stay awake.

"Yeah, mainly because freaking out isn't going to do any good." Jaden answered, not looking up from his game.

He sounded calm, but the spellcaster had been with him long enough to hear the worry in his voice.

" _Don't worry, Jaden, everything will be fine,"_ Witchy said, giving Jaden a kind a smile.

Jaden finally looked up from him game and seemed to relax a little more. Just then, Magician's Valkyrie and Ice Master showed up.

"What's wrong guys?" Jaden asked, having a bad feeling about their arrival.

Before they could say anything though, Jaden's PDA went off, signaling a message. "Hmm?"

The message puzzled him. There was no picture, just static on the screen. Before he could figure out if it had broken, a distorted voice came out.

 _"We have your roommate, Syrus,"_ The voice said, sounding deep and mysterious, and it sounded male but that was unclear. _"If you want him back, come to the girl's dorms now. Alone."_

"Oh, Syrus." Jaden said mostly to himself.

" _Looks like Alexis hadn't gotten your message."_ Lyna said, coming back out, along with the spirit of Card Ejector.

" _Um, Master Jaden, it might be too late to say anything, but I saw Dr. Crowler sneaking around the boy's locker room earlier while you were in gym class."_ Card Ejector spoke up.

This made Jaden and the other spirits sweatdrop at the late information.

" _Why did your dad hire that clown again?"_ Ice Master asked in an irritated tone.

" _Forget that, you're just now remembering this?!"_ Val shouted at the younger spirit.

"It doesn't matter now," Jaden spoke, breaking up the fight. "What matters is that we get Sy out of this mess."

The spirits nodded in agreement and retreated back into his deck. Jaden got up and was about to leave when Chumley stirred and spoke to him.

"Hey, Jaden," Chumley asked, half asleep. "Was someone else in here?"

 _'Gah!'_ Jaden cried in his head, stopping dead in his tracks. He could also feel the shock from his other selves in his head. He wasn't sure if Chumley had heard his spirits or not, but decided to not take that risk.

"Ha, ha, Chumley, there's no one in here but us," Jaden spun around with a nervous chuckle. "You must have been dreaming."

Chumley sat silently for a while, before going back to sleep. "Yeah, you're probably right."

When Chumley turned back over, Jaden turned back towards the door, relieved yet also white as a sheet. " _Mental note, we keep a tighter lid on it with the duel spirits!"_

" _Agreed!"_ The other two said, for once in agreement about something.

 _Obelisk Girl's Dorm_

Back at the scene of the incident, in the lake, Crowler came up for air after hiding for a while. He was shocked at the fact the wrong Slifer showed up, and even more shocked when the girls started screaming that a boy was on the grounds. Knowing that he had to get away, he dove into the lake.

"You try to expel one kid and the entire world turns against you!" he muttered, before hearing the creaking of a rowboat to his left. He glanced over and saw the object of his misfortune rowing to the girl's dorm.

"You're a little late." he muttered again and moved closer to get a better look.

When Jaden got to main entrance, he found Alexis and her friends, now in uniform, waiting there with a tied up Syrus with them. He would have gotten there faster had he teleported or even used a water walking spell, but he didn't want to attract attention.

"Hi, Jaden…" Syrus greeted, glumly.

"Hey," Jaden replied. "So, what's going on here?"

"Well, uh…" The shorter Slifer explained, embarrassed. "To make a long story short…I'm basically a big loser."

"Your friend here trespassed into the girls' campus!" Jasmine said angrily.

Jaden could tell she didn't like him, but didn't say anything to it.

"Hey, it's not like that!" Syrus interjected.

"And now that you're here, Jaden, you're trespassing, too!" Mindy added, ignoring Syrus and sounding like a total snob.

"That's right," Alexis said her challenge. "So if you don't want us to turn you in, you're gonna have to win your freedom by beating me in a duel right now!"

"But if you turn us in, we'll be expelled!" Syrus cried.

Jaden sighed. Since he knew what this was about, he was kind of annoyed by the ploy. "You know, if you just wanted to test my dueling skills, you could have just called and asked instead of taking advantage of someone's bad idea of a prank."

This caught the girls and Sy off guard. How did Jaden know about that? "But since you're not giving much of choice, then I accept. Let's duel, Alexis!"

Said girl regained her composure and gave Jaden an intense stare, which he returned, but Alexis noticed a glint in his eyes that she could have sworn she had seen somewhere before.

The duel was going to take place on the lake with Jaden and Alexis each standing on a boat. Syrus was in Jaden's boat, Mindy and Jasmine were in Alexis's boat.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Jaden." Syrus said, nervous.

Jaden didn't respond, he just continued his stare down with Alexis.

Crowler had gotten a little closer, but still far enough away that he wasn't seen. "Well, well, well. A Slifer versus an Obelisk! Put him in his place, Alexis!"

"Ready?!" Alexis called.

"Oh, yeah!" The secret Kaiba answered.

"Duel!" Both players drew their opening hands.

Alexis: 4000

Jaden: 4000

"Get your game on, Alexis!" Jaden challenged.

Alexis's friends were watching in a mix of curiosity and disdain.

Syrus watched with mostly worry. "Here we go."

"All right! Let's see!" Alexis drew her sixth card. She looked over her hand and acted on a strategy.

"Etoile Cyber, rise!" A red-headed ballerina in an orange leotard appeared with pirouette (1200/1600). "And I'm also going to play one card face down!"

"Time to throw down!" Jaden said, starting his turn.

"First, I set two cards face-down." Two cards appeared by the bow of the boat.

"Then, I summon Apprentice Magician in defense mode!" A blond woman in a purple outfit appeared. It consisted of a cloak, boots, and armguards. She also wore a red headband and a white belt and holding a magician's staff to defend herself with (400/800).

"I end my turn."

' _Why would he play a monster in defense mode with such low defense points. He's knows that it'll be easy to destroy,'_ Alexis analyzed. Then something occurred to her. ' _Unless, that's what he wants me to do!'_

She drew a card. "Ooh. I play Blade Skater!"

A bald, gray-skinned woman with an ice skate blade on each wrist appeared, skating on the water before joining her comrade (1400/1500). ' _I don't know why you'd want me to destroy that monster, Jaden, but at least this way I can cause twice the pain.'_

"Now, Etoile Cyber, attack Apprentice Magician!" Jaden gritted his teeth as the monster danced and spun before round-house kicking Apprentice Magician, destroying her.

"I activate Apprentice Magician's effect!" Jaden said. "When she's destroyed in battle, I can take a level 1 or 2 spellcaster from my deck and set on the field!"

He took a card from his deck and set it in face-down defense mode.

Alexis growled. "Well since it doesn't damage me, Blade Skater, attack his face-down monster!"

Blade Skater sped toward the hidden monster and slashed at it with her blades. The hidden monster flipped up to reveal…another Apprentice Magician.

"And the cycle continues!" Jaden smirked as he set his next monster.

Alexis just made her next move. "Now I activate the spell card Polymerization to fuse Etoile Cyber and Blade Skater together to summon Cyber Blader!"

Alexis's new monster had dark blue hair and light blue skin wearing an orange and white leotard and a pair of futuristic goggles over her eyes (2100/800).

"Now, Cyber Blader, attack that face-down monster with Whirlwind Rage!" The monster went into a spin and headed towards the face-down monster. Then a foot lashed out and destroyed the monster that turned out to be another Apprentice Magician.

"Another Apprentice Magician?" Alexis asked, wondering what he was up to.

"Be thankful I don't have anymore, but I still have a monster that fits the requirements!" He said, setting a new monster.

"Now, it's my turn!" He drew his next card. "I activate one of my face-downs! Mystical Space Typhoon destroys your face down!"

The spell card sent off a powerful gust of wind that destroyed her face-down. "Now, I flip summon my monster, Old Vindictive Magician!"

The monster that appeared on Jaden's side was an old man in red robes and a blue cape carrying a green staff (450/600).

"And once he's revealed, he can destroy one monster on the field! And guess who I pick?"

"My Cyber Blader!" Alexis cried.

"That's right, now destroy that ice skater!" The old man fired off a green blast, destroying the fusion monster.

"No way!" Mindy cried, Jasmine gasping.

"All right!" Syrus cheered.

"Now I sacrifice the old guy, to summon forth Chaos Command Magician!" The old man vanished as a blue-skinned spellcaster wearing dark green robes and hood and carrying a scepter with a red jewel (2400/1900).

"Now, Chaos, attack Alexis directly with Chaos Magic!"

" _At once, young master!"_ A red lightning blast was shot from the mage's scepter and struck Alexis directly.

Alexis: 1600

Jaden: 4000

"Lastly, I'll add a facedown to replace the one I used!" Jaden finished off.

"Way to play Jay!" Syrus praised his friend.

Alexis's friends were shocked. A Slifer had just knocked Alexis down past the halfway mark without losing any life points himself.

"Good shot, Jaden," Alexis drew her next card. "But it'll take more than that to beat me. I play the spell card Monster Reborn and bring back my Cyber Blader!"

The ice skating monster returned to the field (2100/800).

"Now, I equip my spell Fusion Weapon to Cyber Blader." Cyber Blader's hand transformed into what looked like a tri-pronged blaster that also increased her power (2100-3600/800-2300).

"Uh-oh. I think you might want to brace yourself for this one, Sy." Jaden told Syrus.

"Go, Blader! Attack the Chaos Command Magician with Trident Shock!" A lightning blast came from the transformed and destroyed Chaos Command Magician, who gave out a cry of pain before being destroyed. Jaden had to cover his face from the blow back.

Alexis: 1600

Jaden: 2800

"Way to go, Alexis!" Mindy cheered.

"Yeah, you got him now!" Jasmine added. "I knew when this kid beat Dr. Crowler it was just luck!"

From where he was Crowler was smirking at the turn of events.

"Get over yourselves." Jaden muttered loud enough for them to hear. "And stop putting Crowler up on a high stool he doesn't deserve!"

This shut the girls up, shocked at being talked to like that.

" _Those girls are really start to get on my nerves."_ Haou muttered in the back of his mind.

" _They're also probably a couple of those Obelisks who got in through connections and can't duel worth a darn."_

 _'But that doesn't matter right now. I may still have life points, but if I don't get a monster out, I'm done for.'_ Jaden added as he drew his next card. When he saw what it was, he gave off a smirk that only the people in his family could pull off.

"Perfect." Jaden said getting a reaction out of Alexis.

"I activate my facedown, Call of the Haunted!" Jaden declared. "It lets me bring back my Old Vindictive Magician from the graveyard! Rise again!"

The mage reappeared (450/600).

"What difference will he make?" Alexis asked. "My Cyber Blader has way more attack points than him. Your spellcaster won't stand a chance."

"True, but he won't be the one going into battle," Jaden explained. "Next I play Magical Dimension!"

A golden sarcophagus appeared behind the old mage. "I can only activate this card when I have a spellcaster on my field. I sacrifice my magician to summon another one from my hand."

The sarcophagus opened up, sucked up the old man, and closed.

"Come forth, Cybernetic Magician!" The coffin opened, revealing a man all in silver with blond hair, wearing blue pants, and carried a silver staff with a hand guard (2400/1600).

"Hate to break it to you," Alexis told him. "But my Cyber Blader's attack points are still higher at 3600!"

"I know, but my spell has another trick," Jaden said confidently. "Magical Dimension also destroys one of my opponent's monsters after the special summon."

"But, that would leave me wide open!" Alexis realized she was in trouble.

"Exactly," Jaden confirmed. "Looks like Cyber Blader's about to take her final bow."

The sarcophagus appeared again, this time behind Cyber Blader, and sucked her in before disappearing for good. "Now, to finally end this. Cybernetic Magician, I'll let you do the honors!"

The silver mage shot off some silver lightning at the Obelisk queen, causing her to scream in pain. Crowler wasn't safe from this, since we all know what happens when electricity and water meet.

Alexis: 0

Jaden: 2800

"Alexis!" Jasmine said, worried for her friend.

"Uh, what just happened?" Mindy asked, stunned by what had happened.

"Yeah!" Syrus cheered, giving Jaden a hug.

Jaden looked to Alexis and gave his usual salute. "Alright! Looks like that's game!"

They soon moved to boats so that they were side by side. "A deal's a deal. I won, so we leave and no one speaks of this night!"

"Ok, guys, I won't back out. We'll keep quiet about what happened tonight." Alexis promised.

"Well, if you ask me, I think we should turn both of them in right now!" Jasmine said, really wanting to snitch.

Jaden was going to say something but Alexis beat him to it.

"Well, no one asked you!" Alexis snapped at her friend.

"Alexis?" Jazz gasped.

"Jaden beat me in a duel fair and square, and that's all there is to it." Alexis reprimanded the brunette.

"Well, actually there might be more than that," Jaden said, getting the girls' attention. "You have skills Alexis, and I can respect that as a duelist."

Alexis was surprised by the compliment. "Even if I had gotten the love letter, I would have known it was a fake. You don't strike me as the type to fall head over heels for someone she barely knows, unlike your two friends here."

This also took Alexis by surprise and irked her companions, but before they could say anything, Jaden and Syrus were ready to shove off. "Later."

Syrus waved timidly as they rowed away.

' _Even if I did win I could never have turned those two in.'_ Alexis thought with a smile as they left. ' _This place is a lot more fun with them than without.'_

' _I've never seen Alexis act this way before.'_ Jasmine thought, looking at the blond. ' _I wonder, is she actually falling for that Slifer?'_

Crowler growled as he watched Jaden's departing row boat. "Hmm! Lucky brat! He escaped this time, but I'll still find a way to expel him. After I find a way home."

He then dived into the water to swim home.

 **Chapter complete!**

 **Zachery: Finished in one day.**

 **Thank God for days off. Anyway, read, review, and stay tuned. And happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Yay, chapter 4. This one's coming along nicely.**

 **Sakura: Just don't forget the other ones.**

 **I know, I know. Anyway, Wilma, please do the disclaimer.**

 **Wilma: Wolf does not own Yu-gi-oh or Yu-gi-oh GX, if she did Joey and Seto would have gotten together in the anime.**

 **So, without further adue, here is chapter 4**

Chapter 4: A Rare Day

It was a few weeks after Jaden's duel with Alexis, and it was test day. The early morning was met by a fleet of ships, planes, and helicopters, like they were off to war.

"Attention, all craft," The captain spoke to the crew over intercom. "I know it's been a long journey, fighting off mig intruders, taking on attack subs. It seems the whole world has tried infiltrate our defenses, but it's about to all pay off. We're about to reach our final objective with the payload safe! So full steam ahead, men! This is the moment we've been waiting for! The moment Duel Academy gets their new rare cards!"

 _At the Slifer dorm_

At the the Slifer dorm, the morning saw the hidden Kaiba sleeping in a little, since he was up late studying of a different kind. One simply doesn't master their powers by laying around.

Syrus on the other hand had been up all night doing some kind of strange seance.

"Please, please, please!" Syrus was sitting at the desk with candles lit and wearing a headband with three Monster Reborn cards in it. He seemed to be praying to a poster of Slifer the Sky Dragon, being the poster boy for desperate measures. "Please help me ace my exams today, or I'll be stuck wearing this red blazer forever. Not that there's anything wrong with red, of course! It's great on you, Slifer, but I wanna be in Ra yellow! Please give me a sign that you'll help!"

" _I don't think he's doing the ritual right."_ Judai muttered, watching the boy.

" _There's a ritual for this?"_ Haou asked, thinking this display was pitiful.

" _Yes, but I don't think this is what it was used for,"_ The Egyptian prince answered, before turning to their current incarnation. " _You think we should wake him up now?"_

Their answer came in the form of the alarm going off.

*Ring!*

"Slifer?!" Syrus freaked at the sudden noise before calming down, getting a laugh out of the two spirits watching. "Oh. It was just the alarm clock."

He got up to go turn the blasted contraption off, which was right next to Jaden's head and somehow he slept through it. "And of course Jaden sleeps right through it! How can he be so relaxed when there's so much at stake?!"

" _Probably because he's dead tired after last night and he already knows what's on the test."_ Haou said rhetorically, Judai snickering lightly.

Syrus started shaking Jaden to get him to wake up. "Jaden, wake up! If you miss these tests, you'll never advance to the next dorm!"

" _Shouldn't do that."_ The two princes deadpanned, knowing what going to happen. Looks like Syrus is about to learn a lesson the hard.

"Wrong, dad!" Jaden yelled in his sleep, smacking Syrus in the face and knocking him to the floor. "'Cuz I played a trap!"

The royal spirits laughed at the poor boy's misfortune.

Syrus groaned, sitting up. "Why can't he ever be dreaming in defense mode when I wake him up?"

"Duh, Syrus!" The blue haired boy looked up to see Chumley looking over the side at him. "You shouldn't be waking him up at all! Just think about it. After today's written test, we have our field test, and it would be totally lishus for us both if Jaden slept right through it. You get what I'm saying?!"

"Chumley, I never get anything that you say!" Syrus complained, sitting up a little more.

"Hello! The field test is where they pit class members against each other in a duel, and I don't wanna duel the guy who beat Dr. Crowler. So if we let the competition sleep in, then we make out. You get it?" Chumley explained, winking.

"Oh, I get it," Syrus glared at the older boy, along with the two spirits. "And I'm starting to get why you were held back two years."

He turned his attention back to Jaden. "Jaden! Get out of bed! We're already late! I'll save you a seat! Hurry!" And with that he ran out the door.

Chumley watched him go. "Fine. Plan B it is."

Syrus was running fast to the main building. ' _OK! Cram time! Now let's see. A normal trap can counter a normal spell. A quick play spell can beat a ritual spell, and-'_ He then comically tripped. ' _A double knot beats a single knot.'_

 _A little while later_

"Wow, Chumley's an awesome cook! I have yet to know anyone personally who could do that, though I haven't seen Joey try." Jaden was finally up and making his way toward the main building.

He looked back at the Slifer dorm, and when he thought he was far enough away he stopped and looked around. He decided that teleporting would be the fastest way to get there. So, he closed his eyes in concentration, but before he could recite the spell, Silent Magician, the one with black and red robes, appeared.

"What's up?" Jaden asked the quiet little spirit.

Silent Magician pointed up the road, following his gaze Jaden saw heavy-set woman wearing a pink blouse with blue overalls trying to push a van up the hill.

"Hm, to be a gentleman or to be on time? While dad said punctuality is important, mom said to never turn a blind eye to someone in trouble." He ran up behind the van to give the lady some assistance. "Need some help, ma'am?"

"Oh, thank you. You must be from the auto club." The woman replied, thankful for the help.

"No, I'm just a good Samaritan." Jaden responded getting behind the van to push.

"Isn't that nice?" She replied, but lost her grip and the van started to move backwards.

Thankfully, Jaden quickly used his telekinesis to stop the van, but kept his hands on it to make it look like he was pushing.

"It would probably be nicer if I pushed!" Jaden said, pushing the van with his powers.

"Thank you."

"It's no trouble at all, ma'am!" Jaden assured, acting like a gentleman.

"You're such a sweet boy." She said gratefully. "I'll remember this. And you don't have to call me ma'am, Dorothy will do just fine."

 _Test Room_

After helping Ms. Dorothy, Jaden used his teleportation to get to the door of the test room and slipped inside. He got his test and headed to his seat beside Syrus, who was asleep.

Jaden thought about waking him up, but from a lesson he learned from his dad he decided against. Sy got this way because of that seance, so he was going to pay the price. Plus, it was payback for lighting candles and making it hard for Jaden to fall asleep.

The spellcaster duelist then got cracking on his test. He was so focused that he didn't see Crowler peaking into the room, watching him.

"You may be able to skate your way through the written exam, Jaden, but when your field test starts, believe me, it'll be your biggest blunder!" He cackled.

 _After the test_

On the far side of the island, the commander and his crew had landed and were heading toward the school. After the test was over, Banner made an announcement. "Alright, class. The written exam is now over, so please walk, do not run, to get in line for today's new rare cards."

"They're here?!"

"Oh, dear." Banner muttered.

As soon of those words were out of his mouth, a stampede of students rushed out the classroom. This left only Bastion, Syrus, and Jaden, the former trying to wake the latter.

"Chazz, Chazz!" Torimaki called to his 'boss'.

"The new cards are here!" Raizou added.

"So go fetch." Chazz answered, not even looking up from the paper in his hands. Like loyal dogs, the two lackeys ran off.

"Say, you two may want to give some serious thought to waking up." Bastion said, shaking Syrus awake.

It took a bit, but Syrus finally woke up with a startled yelp. "Aw, I flunked, didn't I? I'm a complete failure!" He moaned, anime tears going down his face.

"Sy, if they were grading melodrama, you'd get an "A"." Jaden cracked, looking up from the desk he was laying on. He wasn't actually sleeping, he was just resting his eyes.

"Hey, where'd everyone go?" Syrus asked, now noticing the empty classroom.

Jaden knew, Ben had told him about the "Rare Card Stampede" that happened after the written test.

"That's what I was trying to tell you. The new rare cards have arrived today. Everyone's at the card shack." Bastion explained.

"What?! New cards?!" Syrus cried in disbelief. "Hey, how come no one told us?!"

"Because everyone wants the best cards for themselves to use in the upcoming field test." Bastion told him.

"So why aren't you getting some?" Syrus asked the Ra.

"Please. One errant card, and my deck's delicate balance would be completely thrown off." Bastion replied.

"Mine wouldn't!" Syrus said.

"So let's go. I want to see if I can get some new spellcasters. Plus, my folks were sending me a care package, so I'll pick that up while I'm there. Thanks for the tip, Bastion." Jaden said, heading out of the room with Syrus right behind him.

 _The Card Shack_

The boys were soon at the card shop, only to see there wasn't a line when there should have been.

"Where is everyone?" Syrus asked, surprised at how quiet it was before realizing something. "They couldn't have…"

"Run out of cards already?!" They both finished.

Jaden, keeping calm, walked up to the counter to speak to the lady behind it. "Excuse me, um, Sadie?" He asked, looking at the girl's name tag for her name. "Are there any card packs left?"

"Of course we have some left. Just regular packs, though," She pulled a single pack. "Here you go."

"Um, I was kind of hoping for more than one." Jaden said, a little annoyed about the matter.

"I'm done for!" Syrus whined. "I slept through my written test. Now I'm going to flunk my duel test 'cuz I can't upgrade my deck!"

"So take the pack, Syrus," Jaden offered. "I'll get through it with the cards I have now."

"Really? You'd give me the last pack that they have?" Syrus asked, amazed by his friend's generosity.

"It's cool!" Jaden assured.

"But what about you? I mean, what if…" Syrus started, but trailed off.

"What if what?" Jaden asked.

"You fail!" Syrus finished, worried for his friend.

"No way, Sy," Jaden said with confidence. "I may fall down from time to time, but I don't fail."

"Yoo-hoo! Auto club!" Called a chipper voice coming in from the back. They turned, and Jaden saw that it was the woman from this morning.

"Oh, hi, Ms. Dorothy!" Jaden greeted the older woman. "You work here, too?"

"Oh, no, I don't work here. I own here! Cool, huh?!" Dorothy explained, winking.

"That's impressive!" Jaden commented, getting the feeling his usual strange luck was going to kick in.

"How do you know her, Jay?" Syrus asked.

"Oh, I helped her this morning when her car broke down." Jaden explained.

"Here, I have something for you." The card shack owner said, getting both boys' attention. She looked like she had a secret to share. "Just call it a thank you for helping me."

 _Elsewhere_

Chazz and his flunkies were in a different part of the school, killing time before the field tests. His friends had just explained what had happened at the card shack.

"Then this guy shows up and takes all the new cards. I mean, every one!" Torimaki explained.

"So we couldn't getcha any, Chazz. Sorry." Raizou apologized.

"You know what's "sorry"? You guys, that's what," Chazz snarked, before turning to them. "But it doesn't matter. 'Cuz not one duelist here can beat me, no matter what card he has."

"Unless that duelist happens to be Jaden Yuki." The three Obelisks turned to see a man in a long black coat and hat.

"Who's there?!" Chazz growled.

"Someone who suspects you despise Jaden as much as I do." He answered mysteriously.

"That's the sticky fingers who took all the rare cards!" Torimaki cried.

"Cards? What cards? Oh, do you mean these cards?" He spread his jacket open, revealing rows of cards.

"Oh, now dat's style!" Raizou commented.

"Talk about havin' a card up your sleeve." Torimaki added.

The mystery man laughed. "What's the matter, Chazz? Don't recognize me? How about now?"

He threw back his cloak and hat to reveal…

"Crowler!" All three boys were shocked.

"You know, you looked better all covered up." Chazz wise-cracked.

Crowler face faulted, but then straightened up. "Yes. Well, I have a plan that will make us all look better and make Jaden Yuki look like the cut-rate duelist he truly is. I want you to be his test opponent for his field test and to use these rare cards to beat him."

"But we're not in same dorm!" Chazz pointed out. "They won't let me be his test opponent."

"They? I am "they". I'll make it happen! And you just make sure that you use all these rare cards to put Jaden in his place in front of the entire academy!" Crowler assured, before letting off an evil cackle.

 _Duel Fields_

Everyone was in the gym, where the practice fields were. Jaden saw that Bastion had already started his duel, as he made his way on to the field. When he got to his, he got a big surprise.

"I'm dueling an Obelisk?" Jaden gasped. "And it's Chazz?!"

"That's right, Jaden," Crowler confirmed, since he was the one judging their exam. "Since you always talk such a big game, I pulled some strings for you so you got the challenge you deserve!"

He pointed to Chazz. "So congratulations! You'll be dueling one of the top ranked duelists in the school! What an honor! I certainly hope that you were able to snag a lot of today's rare cards so that your deck is up to snuff!"

Jaden could hear the sarcasm, and was tempted to say so, but decided to keep up the dumb act. "What's wrong? Aren't you going to thank me?!"

' _Crowler is very lucky I find him amusing, otherwise he would have been fired after the love letter fiasco!'_ Jaden thought.

' _I've got a baaad feeling about this!'_ Syrus thought, worried about Jaden.

' _This is clearly a trap,'_ Bastion thought, suspiciously. ' _Only a cavalier fool would agree to it.'_

"I'll do it!" Everyone gasped at Jaden's voice and the duel starting. "All right, Chazz! Get your game on! I'm gonna finish what we started at Obelisk arena!"

"Hmm, yes, and in front of the entire school, too, where everyone can watch!" Crowler mused.

"Yeah, watch you get slammed by me!" Chazz jabbed.

They put their decks in their duel disks and turned them on. "Duel!" Both boys shouted.

Jaden: 4000

Chazz: 4000

"No excuses this time, Chazz!"

"Bring it, Slifer Slacker!"

"Oh, it is brought!" Jaden drew his next card, when he heard a familiar coo sound. "Well! It's my favorite furry friend."

Jaden smiled at his newest spirit partner. ' _Kuriboh, you're in for a treat! We're about to rain some serious skills on Chazz! Check this out!'_

He looked over the cards in his hand and one caught his attention. "I don't believe you've gotten the chance to get acquainted with this girl, did you Chazz? So, I'll play her in face down defense mode!"

A card appeared and the spectators were wondering who was under it. "She's looking forward to meeting you." Jaden smirked, laying a face down.

Chazz snickered. "Not after she sees what I've got planned for her! Don't think for a second some face down monster has a chance against me, Jaden, or against this!" He drew his next card. '' _Preciate the card, Crowler.'_

"Fresh off the presses, meet Magical Magic!"

"Oh no!" Jaden gasped. He knew what that card did and knew he was now going to be at a bit of a disadvantage.

"Oh yes. All the cards in my hand that I don't want, I put back in my deck. Then I shuffle and redraw. Pretty cool, don't you think?"

"Wha?! How?! A rare card on the first draw?!" Syrus gasped.

"And a very dangerous one at that," Bastion explained. "Now, Chazz will essentially be able to pick exactly which cards he wants and which he doesn't."

"I haven't even gotten to the best part!" Chazz said, redrawing and showing Magical Mallet again. "See, Jaden, I got to reshuffle Magical Mallet, too!"

Jaden growled.

"So if I draw it again, which I just did, I can play it again and again! And that comes in handy when I'm looking for this! V-Tiger Jet! Sharpen your claws in attack mode!" A yellow tiger, shaped like a fighter jet appeared (1600/1800).

"And there's a lot more where that came from! Check out the magic of Frontline Base! It lets me summon another level four or below monster this turn! And I have just the one. I play W-Wing Catapult in attack mode!" A blue jet platform appeared (1300/1500).

"Now merge!" Both flyers took off and then joined together, one on top of the other (2000/2100). "All right! The VW-Tiger Catapult!"

The audience was impressed and Jaden was worried for his face down monster. "But wait. I'm not done yet 'cause he still has his special ability!"

"That's not good!" Jaden muttered. He knew what was coming since his dad had these cards, so he knew this meant his first plan wasn't going to work.

"Gimme a break! Is this guy's turn going to end sometime this century?!" Syrus complained.

"By sending a card to the graveyard, I can force one of your monsters into attack mode!" The face down monster flipped up to reveal Fire Sorcerer (1000/1500). Since she was forced face up by an effect, she couldn't use her special ability.

"So now after the Heatseeker Blitz from my Tiger Catapult, your life points are toast!" The Tiger Catapult launched its missiles at Fire Sorcerer, but Jaden was prepared.

"I activate my facedown, Negate Attack! Not only is your monster's attack negated, but your battle phase is over!" Jaden countered, a vortex absorbing the missiles.

Chazz grunted. "Fine, I'll finish up with one card face down."

"Yeah, go ahead and finish up, because I'm just getting warmed up!" Jaden drew his card.

"Speaking of which, here's a guy who can really turn up the heat! Blast Magician in defense mode!" A red cloaked magician with a staff that doubled as a scythe appeared in a defensive crouch (1400/1700).

"Then, I'll switch my Fire Sorcerer to defense mode and equip her with Book of Secret Arts, giving her an extra 300 attack and defense points!" Fire Sorcerer crouched down in defense mode while a white aura appeared as she powered up (1000-1300/1500-1800).

"And since a spell card was played, my Blast Magician gains a spell counter." One of the orbs on Blast Magician's costume started to glow red (SC: 1). "I'll end my turn there."

"Not much else he can do with all the new rares Chazz seems to have!" Bastion said.

"It's just not fair!" Syrus complained.

Alexis was watching the duel from another part of the arena. ' _This is a complete mismatch! How can Jaden fight back if he doesn't know what he's fighting!'_

"Ready for round two, you Slifer Slime?! Well, X-Head Cannon is!" A blue machine with two cannons on its shoulders appeared (1800/1500).

"And, thanks to Frontline's magic, so is Z-Metal Tank!" A yellow tank like machine appeared next to X (1500/1300).

However, since a spell was played, Blast Magician gets another spell counter (SC: 2).

"So he does have them." Jaden grunted.

"X and Z?" Syrus said. "Oh, man, that can only be one thing!"

"Now I play my face down card!" Chazz said as his trap was revealed. "Call of the Haunted, in case you slept through that class, it allows me to bring back a monster from my graveyard and I choose…"

A red metallic dragon appeared (1500/1600).

"It's him!" Syrus gasped.

"He has it!" Bastion confirmed.

"That's right! Y-Dragon Head! It's what I discarded with my Catapult's special ability," The new monsters flew up and locked on to each other, X on top, Y in the middle, and Z on the bottom (2800/2600). "And now I combine them all to create XYZ Dragon Cannon!"

"Now Chazz has two monsters out with over 2000 attack points each!" Bastion said.

Jaden ground his teeth as he looked over the situation. ' _Chazz could leave me wide open if he attacks with both monsters!'_

" _With the exception of one possibility, Jaden,"_ Fire Sorcerer spoke up. " _If Chazz is only thinking about demonstrating his power, he may willingly give up that possible advantage."_

"But wait, Jaden. There's more!" Jaden gasped. "Actually, less. Sure, they say two heads are better than one, but I have to disagree, especially when the one in question is the ultimate V to Z Dragon Catapult Cannon!"

The two machines joined to form a new creature. It was made up of the monsters Chazz had and reminded Jaden a little bit of Transformers (3000/2800).

' _Good call, Shinku.'_ Jaden sweatdropped, calling his monster by the name he gave her as a kid.

"Makes your Blast Magician look like an old blast cap, huh? Or at least, it did." Blast Magician disappeared.

"Hey, my Blast Magician!" Jaden said while the crowd gasped.

"Oh, I'm sorry, didn't I mention V to Z's special ability? He allows me to remove one card on your side of the field once per turn!" He chuckled. "And if you think that's impressive, just wait'll you see his attack, an attack that leave a giant dent in your life points, because when he attacks I get to choose your monster's mode, and you know what? I choose attack mode!"

Shinku was forced to stand. " _It appears this is the end of the road for me, Master, but please win this duel, for me and Blaster."_ She said, referring to Blast Magician by his nickname.

" _I will, I promise."_ Jaden nodded to his monster, who gave him one of her rare smiles.

"Looks like not only your monster gets zapped…" The Dragon Catapult Cannon fired a lightning blast, Fire Sorcerer screamed in agony as she was destroyed. "But your life points will, too!"

Chazz: 4000

Jaden: 2300

The crowd gasped. "Jaden!" Syrus called to his friend.

Crowler saw everything from a special viewing box with the chancellor. "My goodness!" He said with fake sincerity. "Perhaps Jaden can't play with the big boys, after all. I guess he's not as good as everyone thinks!"

Shephard just stared out the window.

"Aw, what's the matter, Jaden? Having some test anxiety?" Chazz taunted. "Don't worry. It'll be over soon."

"No way, Chazz. I've got a whole army of powerful spellcasters at my command! This isn't over! It's only begun! My draw!"

He drew his card. "I play Pot of Greed and draw two more cards from my deck!"

He took his two cards and gasped when he saw one.

 _Flashback, back at the Card Shack._

" _Now, unfortunately, I checked your name and it seems a package that was sent to you was going to be delayed due to the new card shipment," Dorothy explained, reaching under the counter. "However, even though I said we were out of cards, I did hide away a few for polite young students like yourself!"_

 _She pulled out a booster back and handed it to the undercover Kaiba. "Maybe you can put them to some good use, when you're not fixing some old cards, that is!"_

 _Jaden was stunned, but gratefully accepted the pack._

 _Present_

"What do you think, Winged Kuriboh?" Jaden asked his little friend. The little fairy monster gave an agreement.

"All right, let's do this!" Jaden smirked.

"I summon Winged Kuriboh in defense mode!" A Kuriboh with white wings appeared (300/200).

This got a reaction out of the females in the crowd and Bastion and Syrus were right in the middle of it.

"And I'll add a face down and end my turn."

"That's it?! That's all?!" Syrus asked. "But all he's been playing is defense!"

' _I sure hope Jaden knows what's doing.'_ Alexis thought, staring wide eyed at the duel.

"All done, huh? Good, cuz now I can cook that Kuriboh, and I like mine well done!" Chazz said. "There's about to be a fried furball on the field, ya loser!"

"You don't scare me!" Jaden argued.

"No big deal. I don't have to. That's his job!" Chazz retorted. "Dragon Catapult Cannon, attack!"

A giant energy blast was launched at Winged Kuriboh.

"Once that Kuriboh's gone, Jaden will be completely defenseless!" Syrus whimpered.

"Time to use my secret weapon!" Jaden sent his last two cards to the graveyard. "I sacrifice two cards to and activate…"

"WHERE DID HE GET THAT?!" Crowler cried.

"Transcendent Wings!" Winged Kuriboh's wings suddenly grew very large and acted as a shield for the blast.

"It can't be!" Chazz exclaimed.

"Oh, it be," Jaden confirmed, smirking a worthy Kaiba smirk. "Transcendent Wings has evolved Winged Kuriboh into a level ten monster!"

Winged Kuriboh LV10 was about the same size but with a dragon shaped helmet and larger wings (300/200).

"And it gets better, too! By sacrificing himself, Kuriboh destroys all monsters in attack mode and deflects their attack points back as damage to you! Kuriboh, unleash your new power upon the field!" The blast directed back at the machine it came from and was destroyed, taking three quarters of Chazz's life points with it.

Chazz: 1000

Jaden: 2300

"Lucky punk." Chazz muttered, glaring daggers at Jaden.

"Lucky?!" Jaden asked. "No, I just have a habit of being in the right place, at the right time, to help the right people, which isn't you, Chazz, and that's a bad thing because with 1000 life points and it being my turn, all I need is the right monster, and you'll be finished! Here goes everything!"

Jaden drew his card. "I summon Breaker the Magical Warrior in attack mode!"

A soldier in red armor with a shield and sword appeared (1600/1000). "And to add insult to injury, I activate his special ability, giving him a spell counter and 300 extra attack points!"

A blue symbol appeared on his shield (1600-1900/1000). Everyone was shocked by what was about to come. "Attack!"

" _At once, my lord!"_ The warrior charged forward and slashed his sword across Chazz's side.

Chazz: 0

Jaden: 2300

The crowd was stunned silent for a moment, but then they were cheering quite loudly.

"Jaden did it!" Syrus cried happily.

"Impossible," Crowler cried leaning on the glass. "Not with all the rare cards I gave Chazz. This simply can't be!"

"Rare cards? What exactly are you talking about, Crowler?" Shepard asked.

Crowler jumped when he realized he was talking out loud. "Uh, nothing! I have to go grade some tests." He quickly walked off.

Shephard just laugh at his retreating back.

Jaden waved to the crowd that was cheering him before turning to the Chazz. "That's game, unless you want to duel again."

"Oh, we will." Chazz hissed.

"Hey! Jaden!" Syrus ran up to him with Bastion walking up behind him.

"That was well played, Jaden," Chancellor Shephard spoke over the loudspeaker. "Not in the history of our revered academy has a Slifer ever dueled an Obelisk during these exams. Jaden, not only did you hold your own, but you won. Your courage against overwhelming odds is inspiring. It is with great pride that I grant you promotion to Ra yellow. Good job!"

The crowd cheered again.

"Ra Yellow?! You're the best, Jaden!" Syrus complemented, hugging him around the waist.

"I do my best." Jaden said with a humble smile.

"Good show, Jaden. Allow me to be the first to welcome you to Ra yellow." Bastion offered his hand.

"Thank you!" Jaden said, shaking his hand. The crowd cheered again and Jaden returned to waving to them.

Syrus watched with a smile and sad eyes. ' _Aw, man. I knew Jaden wouldn't stay a Slifer for long. I hate to see him go, but I know it's for the best. Hopefully, we can still be friends, at least.'_

 _Slifer Dorm_

Later that night at the Slifer dorm, Chumley was talking over getting a new roommate after hearing the spellcaster duelist got promoted.

"How's this? "Roommate wanted. No one named Chazz. Rare cards a plus."" Syrus didn't answer. "Hey, if you're not going to help with this, Sy, you should do something constructive like make me a grilled cheese."

"I just thought he'd say 'good-bye' to us. That's all I wanted." Syrus said sadly.

"Hi, guys!" Both Slifers turned to see Jaden standing in the doorway. He had teleported in, but the guys were so distracted they hadn't noticed.

"Jaden? Why are you here?" Syrus jumped out of the desk chair.

"I wanted to say congratulations on passing your field test, oh, and in case you've forgotten," Jaden smirked. "I live here! Sure Ra yellow sounded nice, what with clean sheets and lack of cockroaches, but without you, Syrus, it's just not my home."

"Ohhhhhhhh! Really?!" Syrus jumped onto Jaden in a hug, crying like a little baby.

"Oh, come on. You're getting my jacket soaked!" Jaden complained, embarrassed, knowing he was never going to hear the end of it.

"I thought I'd lost you forever," Syrus sobbed. "And now I'm never letting go of you!"

It was at this point Jaden started trying to push Syrus off him, but he held strong. "Please, Jay, just a couple more hugs, huh?"

"It's not the hugs, it's the waterworks!" Jaden snapped, but starting laughing at some point. "At least red doesn't stain as easy as yellow."

Everyone started laughing at some point, Jaden enjoying the time he had with the people he was starting to view as his second family.

 **And we are done, baby!**

 **Michael: You have classes starting again tomorrow!**

 **Which is why I hope off here! Read, review, and stay tuned!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here we are, back for chapter five!**

 **Sakura: Time for a shadow game!**

 **You got it! Disclaimer, please!**

 **Wilma: Wolf does not own Yu-gi-oh or Yu-gi-oh GX, if she did Joey and Seto would have gotten together in the anime.**

 **Let's do this! Here is chapter five of The Duelist of Magic!**

Chapter 5: The Shadow Duelist

The Abandoned Dorm. A mysterious place on the island that is forbidden to be entered. It was once a dorm for the most elite of the students, now it stood empty, rotting from the elements and lack of care. It was probably a grand building a one point, but those days were long gone.

As lonely as the place appeared, one person would visit this place often. In fact, she was there now. Alexis Rhodes walked up to the building and stopped directly in front of it. She then laid down a red rose at the base of the fence. ' _Be at peace, brother, wherever you are.'_

 _Slifer Dorm_

Meanwhile, the Slifer trio was in the mess hall of their dorm telling ghost stories, or at least they were trying to. "And underneath the full moon, I see a path that seems… abandoned!"

"Oh, really?" Jaden was interested. "Then what?"

"Then, at the back of the cavern, I see a mysterious lake…So I go into look very carefully. And, under just the right angle of light…At the very bottom of the lake, beyond my reflection…I see a rare and powerful card. Naturally, I go to get it. But when I reach for it…An arm shoots out, grabs me, and begins to pull me into the lake! AHHHHHHH! HELP ME! NOT THE WATER! ANYTHING BUT THE WATER!"

Apparently Syrus had gotten so into his story he thought he was in it.

"Water's not that scary!" Jaden said.

"Huh? Dirty, swamp water…" Syrus asked. Jaden shook his head.

Syrus sighed. "Oh, you're right. Only a chump would be scared of that."

He was unaware of Chumley cowering in the corner.

" _Wow, they're idiots!"_ Haou voiced his opinion.

" _Leave 'em alone!"_ Jaden responded to one of his other selves.

"Still, good story," He said picking up the Earthbound Spirit card. "Mid-level scares for a mid-level card. But me…"

He drew the next card. "I hope I get a high level!"

But the card he drew was Sinister Serpent. "Oh."

"Aw, you lucked out." Syrus said, Chumley coming back to the table. "You hardly have to scare us at all with that low card."

"All right… Well, I think I have a story that'll do the trick," Jaden said putting down the card. "Well, it's more like a memory. Back when I was a little kid, I use to hear sounds. But I'd only hear them really late at night…"

"Oh!" Both boys were more interested than scared.

 _Flashback_

 _A younger version of Jaden was sleeping soundly in bed, when the ghostly sounds of wailing and screaming roused him from sleep._

" _I'd think I was dreaming, but then…"_

 _Little Jaden sat up and rubbed his eyes, wondering what had woken him up, when all of a sudden, a bright light coming from a door leading to an adjoining room startled him out of bed._

" _They sounded like voices, but not ones I recognized."_

 _The four year old got out of bed and walked toward the door._

" _I would go to check it out…"_

 _He opened the door to find… nothing. The light had faded and the voices had stopped. All that was there was an empty playroom._

" _But every time I did… there was nothing."_

 _The confused little boy looked around and then noticed his deck case was on the floor, instead of on top of the toy chest, where it had been before he went to bed. He walked over and picked it up, something telling him that the noises came from the deck._

" _Nothing at all… except my cards…"_

 _Present_

"And?" Syrus asked, both boys waiting for what's next.

"And that's the end of the story!"

"That's it?" Syrus and Chumley groaned.

"But wanna hear something strange?" Jaden added. "I started hearing those voices during the day, too, whether I had my cards with me or not."

" _Oh, gee, I wonder who he's talking about?"_ Came the voice of Card Ejector, who popped up behind him.

Jaden gave her a discreet look and smile, she giggled and vanished.

Chumley blinked, thinking he saw something, but then thought not.

"HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!" Came a loud laugh. "Hey, I want to join in on the fright-fest!" It was Professor Banner and Pharoah.

"AAGH!" Syrus fell out of his chair, Chumley went back to cowering in the corner, and Jaden tensed, gathering some magic in his hands for an attack.

"You just did!" Syrus said from the floor.

"We're kind of on the edge of our seats here!" Jaden added, being the only one still in his seat. He relaxed, thankful no one saw his hands glowing red.

"Or at least, we were…" Syrus muttered, getting back up. "But since you're here now, why don't you draw a card- the tougher it is, the scarier your story has to be!"

"Oh, well, that certainly sounds easy enough!" Banner drew a card. "Let's see here…" The card he drew was the Five Headed Dragon.

"Whoa, that's a level twelve monster!" Jaden said. It was also his but he wasn't going to admit that.

"Yeah, I think I'm going to go to bed now!" Syrus said, quickly.

Banner chuckled. "What is wrong? Don't you want to hear about the abandoned dorm at the end of the island…"

"Abandoned dorm?!" Jaden asked, his instincts saying something wasn't right.

"Yes, no one talks about it, but there was once a special dorm set at the edge of the forest. It was shut down after several students mysteriously went missing."

Syrus gulped. "Where'd they all go?"

"Well, that's the mystery of it," Banner replied. "But the rumor was that it had something to do with Shadow Games!"

"Thanks! You can stop now!" Chumley pleaded from behind another table.

"You see, kids, Shadow Games are duels played with powerful mystical items."

"Millennium Items, right?" Jaden said, sounding dismissive, but his insides were cold. "I've heard about this, but it's not true."

Banner laughed and adjusted his glasses. "Yes, that is what most people say. But I find that most stories… Well, they generally have to come from somewhere."

" _I've got a bad feeling about this."_ Haou spoke up, and it was rare for him to be worried.

Pharoah yawned.

"Well, I think that's my cue to get back home." With that, Banner left the room.

"Later." Jaden and Syrus said.

"You know, there is this creepy building I saw in the forest once…" Syrus mentioned off hand.

"Alright," Jaden said. "Then you show me how to get there tomorrow night."

"Wha?" Syrus asked.

"Wait a sec, what do you mean "tomorrow night"?!" Chumley threw in, surprising Syrus since he had come up right behind him.

"It means what it says," Jaden said, knowing what he had to do. "Syrus tells me how to get there and I'll go there tomorrow night, alone."

"Wait, why are you going by yourself?" Syrus asked, worried.

"I don't want you guys to get in trouble." Jaden said bluntly.

That wasn't a total lie, if Shadow Games were involved it was going to be dangerous. But the main thing was that he really didn't want them to learn about his powers.

"And that makes it okay for you to go?!" Syrus snapped, shocking the other two, and himself. "What I mean is, I just don't want to see my friend get hurt."

Jaden looked at him for a moment, before smiling softly. "I'll be fine Syrus, don't worry about me."

Syrus still looked unsure. "If you're still worried, you can come with me."

Syrus really didn't want to, but he also didn't want his friend to go alone either. Reluctantly, he nodded an okay.

"Alright, let's have some fun with this!" Jaden said, eager for an adventure.

"Yeah, fun?" Chumley said, not all that sure.

"Aw, man…" Syrus moaned, wondering what exactly he had done.

What they didn't know was that Crowler had been listening to the entire conversation, and was now snickering as he devised a plan.

"This is just the opportunity I've been waiting for!" He said excitedly. ' _I think it's time the Shadow Games made a comeback… Millennium Items and all!'_

 _In the city_

In a dark alleyway in Domino City, a duel was wrapping up with one of the participants completely scared. "Aagh! Ok, ok! You won! Please, just take anything you want and go!"

"What I want…" The metal masked man in a black trench coat and a duel vest like Crowler's said. "Is your soul!" He was holding a familiar looking inverted pyramid with an eye in the center and it was glowing.

"No, please, show some mercy!" The man begged.

The man just looked on coldly. "Some mercy? What is that?"

The light then got brighter, the opponent screamed and fell over, some his cards scattering on the ground.

"Rest in peace in the Shadow Realm!" He chuckled darkly.

As he went to go make sure his opponent was finished, his cell phone rang. "Speak."

The person on the phone spoke a few details. "Duel Academy? Tomorrow night? I'll be there."

 _The next day_

The next day was a typical day for class, Jaden and Syrus were in class, giving it varying degrees of attention. Syrus was asleep and Jaden was nodding off. That's what you get for staying up late telling ghost stories to the point you can barely sleep. They were unaware that Crowler was peeking in on them again.

' _Sleeping through yet another class…'_ He thought. ' _But you'll have a makeup lesson soon enough…A lesson in the Shadow Games.'_

 _The Docks_

Later that night Crowler stood alone on the docks next to the lighthouse, waiting. After some time, he heard footsteps behind him. He turned to see a man all in black standing a few feet away from him.

"So, you're the one they call the Shadow Duelist." Crowler looked him over.

"My opponents call me many things, but most of which, are are hard to discern through their shrieks of pure terror. But enough small talk, what's the job?" The tall man asked as fog appeared around them.

Crowler informed him of his work. "I want you to frighten someone so intensely that he leaves this academy and never comes back. Up to the challenge?"

"Of course." The shadow duelist replied. "I never turn my back to a challenge."

Crowler then for some reason tried to surprise the man by appearing on multiple sides of him, but the man seemed to always know where he was. "Hmm? Oh! My, my…You are good!"

"I'm better than good," He replied cooly. "And I'll prove it. Not just by scaring this someone. But by banishing him to the Shadow Realm!"

The man, who was called Titan, seemed to move backwards through the fog. Said fog then disappeared, taking the man with it.

"Hmm. Well, all right, if you insist." Crowler said after he left.

 _Meanwhile, with the boys_

The boys were on their trek to find the Abandoned Dorm. Or, at least they were trying to.

"Okay, we could either call it being lost…" Jaden said, trying to lighten the mood. "Or we could call it finding a couple places where it's not!"

"Yeah, well, we've been finding places for over an hour now, but then, I guess it could be worse for Sy." Chumley thought out loud.

"For Sy? Why?" Jaden asked confused.

"We could be near a lake of "dirty swamp water"." Chumley taunted.

"Very funny, but you were the one who refused to bathe 'cause you were scared of the bath water last night." Syrus pointed out.

"Well, maybe if you cleaned the bath once in awhile it wouldn't be so swampish!"

"Maybe if you grew up and started to take showers-!"

" _Normally, I stay neutral, but this is starting to get annoying."_ Lyna spoke up, appearing beside her master.

" _I'm with you."_ Jaden agreed, talking with the spirit while his friends argued.

He then came to a halt and Lyna disappeared, his flashlight landing on a rose left by a wall.

"Hey, check this out!" He called back to his friends.

"Check out what's behind it!" Syrus said, because they had just found what they were looking for.

"The old dorm!" Jay exclaimed.

"And probably lots of ghosts, too!" Chumley whimpered, behind the other boys.

"Calm down, guys. There's nothing here." Jaden assured them, but he was a little exasperated now. However, he could definitely sense shadow magic coming from the building.

That was when they heard the snap of a twig.

"Ah! So, what's that?" Chumley and Syrus yelped.

Jaden turned toward the source of the noise. When he found was a certain female Obelisk. "Oh, hi, Alexis."

The two scaredy cats were clinging to Jaden by jumping onto them, causing him to groan at the unexpected weight, and he was seriously restraining the idea of using his powers.

"Alexis?" Syrus asked, when it registered who it was. "What are you doing here?"

Alexis frowned as she came closer to the boys. "That's funny. I was about to ask you guys the very same thing."

"We heard about the Abandoned Dorm and wanted to check it out." Jaden explained.

"Well, that's not very intelligent. Don't you know that kids have a way of disappearing around here?" Alexis inquired.

Jaden waved it off, slipping into his act. "Aw, come on. That's just some urban myth."

"No, it's not. Believe me, I know. Why else would the academy make this place completely forbidden!" She told them. "They catch you here, and they'll expel you, Jaden."

Jaden then decided to get smart with her. "So then why are you here?"

"I have my reasons, that's why!" The Obelisk queen snapped.

Jaden was shocked by the reaction. "Whoa, Alexis, no need to snap! We just came here to look around, but, hey, we'll stay out of your way, don't worry."

"Look, it's just that…" Alexis started, before stopping and walking a short distance away.

"Just that what?" Syrus asked.

"One of the kids who disappeared here…was my brother." She finished quietly.

The group gasped at the revelation. Jaden turned to the rose left on the ground. ' _That explains the rose…'_

They looked to see that Alexis was gone, probably having left after the explanation.

"If Alexis' brother really disappeared…then the rumors aren't just rumors!" Syrus looked at the old building again. "I say we go back, Jaden!"

"Yeah? I say we go in!" Jaden replied, still determined to explore.

"WHAT?!" Syrus gasped quietly.

Jaden and Chumley were already walking towards the dorm, their flashlights lighting the way.

"See you later, Sy! Don't disappear on us!" Jaden chuckled.

"Disappear?!" Syrus looked around in rising panic before giving in.

"Aw, wait up!" He called running after the others.

They were unaware of the fact that Alexis was still around, watching everyone leave. She's became worried as she watched Jaden going in the dorm.

' _I hope Jaden knows what he's doing…'_ She thought.

As she turned to leave, a shadowed man appeared out of nowhere, startling her. All that was heard next was short scream and then bats taking flight.

 _With the group_

Back with the boys, they were checking out the inside of the dorm. It was just as rundown as the outside.

Jaden for some reason liked it, it had a certain charm to it. "This place is cool!"

"Huh?" Chumley asked, thinking his friend was nuts.

"What?! Are you kidding?" Syrus asked. "This is even worse than the Slifer dorm! I mean, what's all this stuff on the walls?!"

He pointed his flashlight at one of the walls. On it were many symbols and letters carved into it.

"Do you think think it was something to do with the Shadow Games?" Chumley asked, looking at the markings.

"Jaden, don't stand so close, are you nuts?!" Syrus freaked as his friend got a little closer.

"Hey, I think this shows the seven Millennium Items…" He turned his flashlight towards another wall with a photograph on it. "And that shows someone I've never seen before."

 _With Alexis_

In another part of the dorm, Alexis woke with a gasp, finding herself tied up a coffin.

"Where am I?" She wondered.

A sinister voice laughed. "On a hook. Dangling, baiting your friends into my trap…"

"Jaden?!" She gasped.

Then she saw an eye flash brightly in front of her. Then she did what most people do in this situation…scream.

 _Back with the boys_

Everyone jumped when a loud scream ripped through the air.

"That sounded like Alexis!" Syrus realised.

"Let's move!" Jaden shouted, running towards the hall. They came upon a balcony to another room and Jaden shined his flashlight down to the lower floor.

"Alexis?!" He called, before his flashlight caught sight of a card on the floor. He headed down the stairs for a closer look, the others close behind him. He bent down and picked up the stray card.

"This is Alexis' card." Jaden realized, when he saw it was Etoile Cyber.

"Well, there's only one way she could've gone…" Chumley pointed to an entry way across the room, most likely leading to the basement.

"Then that's the way we're going!" Jaden said.

The trio then proceeded down the tunnel, calling for Alexis, hoping to get another response from her. They soon came to the end of the tunnel and into a large, strange room, that looked like some kind of arena. On the far side of the room was Alexis, lying motionless in a coffin.

"Alexis!" Jaden called to her, but got no answer.

That was when a dark laugh was heard through the room, as fog began to appear. "She can't hear you…She's far away, locked in the Shadow Realm!"

"Who's there?" The spellcaster duelist demanded.

A tall figure in black seemed to appear by rising out of the fog, scaring the other two half out of their wits. "Your worst nightmare come true."

"Oh, give me a break." Jaden said sarcastically.

"Then let me prove it to you…in a Shadow Game!" Titan declared.

"We gotta get Alexis back!" Syrus said.

"Hand her over or you'll regret it!" Jaden demanded, surprising himself with how much he sounded like his dad.

Titan just stared at them. "The only way I will free her is if you beat me in a Shadow Game."

"He's not looking at me, is he?" Chumley asked.

Jaden stepped forward. "Look, I'm not afraid of dueling you, but Shadow Games don't exist!" And he could easily tell this guy had no kind of magic to speak of.

"The others didn't believe in the Shadow Games either…but they were soon convinced." The shadow duelist said, darkly. "For, you see, when you lose in a Shadow Game, you don't just pay with your life points…you pay with your soul."

"Well, you're not getting us, especially Alexis!" Jaden swore.

"Unless you win, she's mine forever, as will you be!" Titan sneered.

' _I highly doubt that!'_ Jaden growled, trading his flashlight for the duel disk Chumley had. "All right, get your game on!"

Titan activated his own duel disk. "Shadow Game, this is!"

"Just hang on, Alexis, I'll get you out." Jaden looked at his friend, before turning back to the field.

"Duel!"

Jaden: 4000

Titan: 4000

"Prepare, you fool, to enter into…the Shadows!" Titan began his his turn to start the duel.

"I summon Infernal Queen Archfiend in attack mode!" Jaden watched as a large, bone covered creature in dark robes appeared, screeching like a bat (900/1500).

"An Archfiend monster?"

"Yes, and now that this card's out, each and every monster with "Archfiend" in its name gains 1000 attack points!" A purple aura appeared around the archfiend's body as she grew more powerful (900-1900/1500).

Chumley gasped at the turn of events.

"Careful, Jaden!" Syrus called.

"I already knew that," Jaden spoke, coldly. "I also know that to keep those monsters on the field, you have to pay life points during every standby phase of your turn!"

Titan chuckled darkly. "No, I don't," He said, confusing the teens. "Not after activating the spell card Pandemonium!"

Titan inserted a field spell card into his duel disk, causing a bright light to shine over the field, forcing the others cover their eyes. When they opened their eyes, the room had taken a disturbing turn with bone statues of horrible monsters and bone covered walls with a lava pool in the middle of the field.

"Huh?!" Syrus and Chumley were freaked out.

"I've seen worse." Jaden said, hiding his unease.

"And it doesn't just change the scenery, it changes the rules," Titan declared. "Now I don't have to pay any life points for my Archfiends, and if they're ever destroyed outside of battle, I get to put another fiend right into my hand."

"I know what you're thinking," Titan pointed at the motionless Alexis. "Your little friend's fate is all but sealed!"

He paused as the coffin she was in closed and sunk into the ground. "Well, you're right!"

"Alexis!" Jaden shouted.

"That's not fair!" Chumley cried.

"Yeah, what have you done?" Syrus demanded.

Titan glared at them both. "The same thing that I will do to the both of you, should you continue to pester and annoy me!"

Naturally, this scared them.

"Hey! Your opponent's over here! Leave my friends out of this! My draw!" Jaden drew his card and looked over his hand. ' _I don't have any card that can go up against 1900 attack points! But maybe…'_

"I summon Magician's Valkyria in defense mode!" The red haired spellcaster appeared (1600/1800).

"Finally, I set two face downs!"

"Two bad you won't have a chance to use them!" Titan said as he drew a card and slapped another onto his disk. "I summon Terrorking Archfiend in attack mode!"

Another Archfiend, this time male with electricity sparking around it appeared. It also had a red king crown (2000/1500).

"Now, you have two vicious Archfiends to contend with, and thanks to the special ability of the Infernal Queen, the Terrorking's attack points automatically increase by 1000, making him an even more fiendish force to be reckoned with!" More purple energy surrounded the new Archfiend (2000-3000/1500).

"3000 attack points?!" Jaden couldn't believe it. He was now facing a monster with same power as his dad's Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

"That's right," Titan replied. "And now I'm going to put them all to use. Terrorking Archfiend, attack Valkyria! Locust-Storm Barrage!"

The Terrorking's chest opened up and a swarm of locusts flew out of it, heading straight for Val. She screamed in pain, as the locusts tore at her in a feeding frenzy.

"I activate my trap card, Magician's Curse!" Jaden cried. The card had a picture of a red robed Dark Magician putting a curse on a purple robed one. "When a spellcaster is destroyed, I can deal damage equal to that spellcaster's original attack points!"

Through the pain, Magician's Valkyria gathered enough to strength to send the remains of her power at Titan in a magic blast, before she was destroyed.

Jaden: 4000

Titan: 2400

"And now for the second part of the trap, I get to summon another monster of the same level and then deal more damage to you equal to that monster's level times 100!" Jaden fanned his deck and picked a monster. "And I choose another Magician's Valkyria!"

Another red head spellcaster appeared (1600/1800). The moment she took the field, she charged up a magic orb and launched it at the "Shadow Duelist".

Jaden: 4000

Titan: 2000

"His life points are already down to half!" Chumley exclaimed, amazed by his friend's skilled play.

"Now, I play my second trap, Call of the Haunted!" Jaden continued. "You know what this does, and since I have only monster in my grave, guess who's coming back!"

The first Magician's Valkyria reappeared next to her twin, both defending their master (1600/1800).

"Oh, way to duel!" Syrus praised his friend.

"Those Valkyria will keep Jaden safe!" Chumley added.

Titan growled, knowing they were right. He drew his next card, then stuck the card in his hand. He passed on the turn.

"Bad hand? That's too bad." Jaden taunted lightly, drawing his card.

" _Mind if I join in, Jaden?"_ A voice spoke from the card.

Jaden smiled, knowing that voice. "I play the spell Level Award!"

The spell card had a picture of a queen giving a star medal to a small goblin carrying an axe while an attendant stands nearby with medals. "With this spell I can change the level of any monster in my hand or on the field to any level between one and eight. So, I change this level seven monster in my hand into a level one monster.

"And now, I'm gonna summon that monster! Rise, Dark Magician!" The legendary spellcaster appeared to the field (2500/2100).

"Whoa!" The two Slifers were surprised to see the well known magician appear.

"Dark Magician, attack Infernalqueen! Dark Magic Attack!" With a wave of his hand, the fiend monster flashed black and white and was then destroyed.

Jaden: 4000

Titan: 1400

"And with her gone, the other fiend loses its power boost!" (3000-2000/1500).

"Totally 'lishus!" Chumley pumped his arm. "If Jaden keeps this up, we can finally get outta here! And with Alexis, too!"

"We'll see about that!" Titan took a card from his hand. "I'm using Desrook Archfiend's special effect! It allows me to resurrect Infernalqueen Archfiend by sending this card to the graveyard!"

He enserted the card into the graveyard slot and looked back at Jaden as Infernalqueen returned to the field (900-1900/1500). "Say 'hello' to a not-so-old friend."

"Her again?" Jaden asked, getting annoyed.

"And now I activate the effect of the field spell card Pandemonium!" Titan continued. "Its powerful magic allows me to draw a new Archfiend if one of my Archfiend monsters is ever sent to the graveyard."

He paused as he got his card. "Of course, this new Archfiend can't be as powerful, but then again, my Terrorking Archfiend is packing more than enough power as it is, thanks to Infernalqueen's special ability!"

Sure enough, Terrorking's attack points rose again (2000-3000/1500).

"These two are really overstaying their welcome," Jaden murmured as he took another card from his hand. "I've gotta find a way to get rid of them somehow, but first, I gonna switch things up with Dark Catapulter!"

A dark metal monster with two rods sticking out of his back appeared on the field, kneeling and guarding (1000/1500). "Just try to get past this line-up!"

"You should be careful what you wish for, because you might just get it!" Titan threatened as he drew his next card. "Especially when this card is in the mix! I sacrifice my Terrorking Archfiend and call forth the Skull Archfiend of Lightning!"

Terrorking dissolved away in a dark wind. In his place stood a much bigger Archfiend, electricity crackling all over it's body. It looked a lot like Summon Skull, only scarier. Like its predecessor, it got a boost from the other Archfiend still on the field (2500-3500/1500).

"I may not be able to break through your defense, but now you can't get through mine," Titan almost roared. "It looks like we're at a stalemate, which means you have a choice to make!"

"He's right!" Chumley realized. "Even if Jaden takes out the Infernalqueen with his Dark Magician, the Shadow Duelist will still be in and none of Jaden's monsters can get through the Skull Archfiend's attack!"

"Oh, man," Syrus moaned. "And unless Jaden has another Level Award spell, he'll have to sacrifice one of his monsters, and then he'll lose an advantage."

Jaden heard what they said and a very familiar smirk came to his face. "You should have beaten me last turn, Shadow Duelist."

"Huh?"

"You struggled for most of this duel, a duel I've been in control of from the very beginning," The secret Kaiba explained, his voice cold and confident. "That was your last turn."

"You're bluffing!"

"Oh, am I?" Jaden drew his next card.

As he did, a small light appeared on the non-spellcaster on the field. "First, I'm going to activate my Dark Catapulter's special ability! It allows me to remove one card that's in my graveyard for every turn Catapulter was in defense mode. Then, for every card I remove I can destroy one trap or spell card that's in play!"

Jaden's graveyard slot began to glow. "So since he was in defense mode for one turn, I'll remove Magician's Curse and then I'll destroy your Pandemonium card!"

Dark Catapulter leaned forward, a ball of energy gathering between the spires on its back, aiming directly for Titan's field spell slot. "Storm Shower Blast!"

"Uh oh…" Titan held up his duel disk to guard against the blast.

Within minutes, the statutes grumbled and the field spell blew apart, leaving the group in the room they were in before.

Gritting his teeth, Titan reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold pyramid that looked a lot like the Millennium Puzzle. He knew he was in a corner, so it was time for the underhanded tactics. "So what? You still haven't destroyed this!"

Jaden just kept his smirk. "You should be careful what you wish for… you may just get it!"

He tossed his Magician's Curse card and watched as it got stuck right in the middle of the eye.

"What did you do?!" Titan cried.

"Alright, Jaden! You saved Alexis!" Syrus shouted happily.

Jaden looked back at his audience. "She was never in danger, Sy. This whole "Shadow Game" was one big fake. It was all just a bunch of smoke and mirrors, and that item he took out probably had a hypnosis device in it. It was all to make me _think_ I was losing my soul the minute I lost life points," He explained. "This guy's a complete sham. He's probably just some out of work carny."

"I'm not out of work!" Titan protested. "I can get my job at the fair back anytime I want!"

"Yeah, I'm sure you could, and I'm sure that paper mache Millennium Item goes over real well with the kiddies." Jaden added.

Titan was beginning to sweat by this point. "No! Be quiet! It's real! _I'm_ real!"

"You're a sideshow phony!"

"You fool! You forget!" Titan remembered smirking.

Jaden raised an eyebrow.

"The girl!"

"Alexis!" Chumley spoke up.

"Yes, that's right! Imprisoned in a shadow tomb! Her soul is festering in the far recesses of the Netherworld! That proves this Millennium Pendant is real!" He cried triumphantly, holding up his cracked item. "What do you have to say to that?!"

The two other Slifer looked at each other, terrified.

"Besides that you're a complete dunce?" Jaden shot back. "See, all the Millennium Items were etched into the wall of this dorm, and yours would be called the Millennium _Puzzle_ , not Pendant."

Titan growled, knowing he was caught.

"You don't have Alexis's soul, you never did. So hand her over, and tell me what you know about all the other kids that were taken!" Jaden ordered, looking hard at him. He doubted he knew anything, but he wanted to be sure.

"Other kids? I don't know what you're talking about, and because of your earlier carny comment, you can find your friend by yourself!" He snapped, setting off a smoke bomb to cover his escape.

"No way! You're not getting out of here that easily, get back here!" Jaden called, chasing after him.

As he ran, he didn't notice that the statues around the circumference of the area started to light up. He did stop though when the lights shot out from the statues and merged in the center of the room, right in front of him. Then, a symbol that looked like the Eye of Horus appeared on the floor.

This was enough to catch Titan's attention and make him stop to look.

"What is this?! Another trick?!" Jaden scowled, eyes fixed on the symbol, though deep down he knew this was not trick.

"I didn't do this…" Titan tried to back away from the symbol.

All of a sudden, a wind picked up, swirling the smoke around like a tornado was forming in the building.

Jaden watched as the twister surrounded them, his insides going cold as he knew what was happening. The Shadows were angry.

The smoke covered the two duelists. Then, it condensed into a sphere of darkness, crackling with energy.

"Jaden!" Syrus called out to his friend.

Inside the shadow dome, Jaden and Titan were inside a void of endless darkness. Needless to say, both were freaking out, but Jaden was doing a better job at not showing it.

"What is this place?!" Titan demanded, full of fear. "Where am I?!"

"The _real_ Shadow Realm!" Jaden explained. "This is what happens when you offend the Shadows, they get angry!"

Just as he finished explaining, Jaden felt an intense pain rip through him. It was like something kept pressing down on his body, trying to crush him. It was enough to force him to his knees. Along with that, it felt like all his strength was being sucked out of him.

' _Oh man, I've experienced Shadow Games before, but never one in the Shadow Realm.'_ Jaden thought, gritting his teeth.

A presence nearby made the two turn to see a large mass of black blobs surrounding them. Jaden knew what these things were from the stories his dad's friends told him. ' _Shadow fiends…'_

Titan was the unfortunate one. He was quickly assaulted by blobs as they began to cover every inch of his body.

"Help! They're attacking! Jaden, save me!" His cries for help were cut off as blobs began to be sucked into his mouth, muffling his screams.

Jaden then noticed he was being surrounded by his own group of fiends. He was in so much pain and so close to passing out, he didn't have the strength to summon his magic. He couldn't move to get away from them and they were closing in fast.

' _If I pass out here, I'm as good as dead.'_

" _Jaden, you fought well. I'll take over from here."_ Not having the strength to fight the lull of sleep, Jaden fell into darkness.

He fell forward on to the ground, but before the fiends could move, "Jaden" pushed himself back up. He got back on his feet with determination in his eyes. His _gold_ eyes. Haou's eyes.

Haou looked down at the little monsters and his eyes began to glow.

"Get back!" He said in a commanding and threatening tone.

Most of the blobs backed up, but there are still some that are daring enough to come forward. That was when Dark Magician and the Magician's Valkyrias show up.

" _Beat it, you little freaks!"_ One of Valkyria spoke, blasting them for good measure.

Dark Magician, who Jaden called Mahad, glanced back at his master and saw who it was. " _Is Jaden alright?"_

"He did surprisingly well for being exposed to the pressures of the Shadow Realm for the first time," Haou answered, sounding impressed. "He's recovering in his soul room right now."

Mahad nodded, before turning his own power on the fiends.

Haou then heard a little 'hoot' sound, the same one he had heard a few times now. He looked down at "his" deck and was startled when he saw a small brown furball trying to escape, though anyone who says so will end up threatened. When the furball finally got out, it turned out to be Winged Kuriboh.

Haou gave one of his rare smiles to the little spirit. "Don't worry, Winged Kuriboh. Jaden will be fine. This shouldn't take long."

Haou looked back at Titan. He was no longer covered by the slimy blobs, but he wasn't like he was before. His eyes were glowing bright red behind his mask and when he spoke his voice sounded more sinister.

"Jaden Yuki, the Shadows pang for a soul… only one shall survive."

"It is not Jaden you speak to. I am Haou, the Supreme King of Darkness."

"So, the King of Darkness has fallen into our domain?" The thing in Titan spoke, sounding amused.

"No, my host did," He countered. "I'm just here to finish what he started. I have a proposition for you."

"Oh?"

"If I can beat you here and now, on this turn, not only do you let me go but you also release the other students that were taken."

"Titan" stared at him a moment before speaking. "Very well, I accept your wager."

He raised his duel disk as the army of fiends formed a circle around the two duelists, making sure the duel ends.

"This duel will continue in the Shadow Realm." He rasped as Skull Archfiend of Lightning and Dark Catapulter appeared back on the field.

Jaden: 4000

Titan: 1400

Haou smirked and held up one of the last two cards in his hand. "Jaden was right, that was your last turn."

"Oh really?"

"Yes," Haou activated the spell in his hand. "I activate the spell Lightning Vortex! I discard one card from my hand and all of your monsters are destroyed!"

A storm quickly formed over the field and then lightning struck down on "Titan's" side of the field. His Archfiend was destroyed.

"No!" He bellowed.

"Now, you're wide open. Mahad, I'll give you the honor. Finish him off, Dark Magic Attack!" Mahad gathered magic at the end of his staff and fired it at the possessed duelist.

Jaden: 4000

Titan: 0

The force from the blast knocked the evil entity out of Titan and also knocked him out. He was once again attacked by the blobs, sinking into the floor without a sound.

Haou watched with a cold indifference. "This is what happens to those who pretend to have the power of the Shadows."

Outside, Syrus and Chumley were worried about Jaden, hoping he was okay. Suddenly, the dome seemed to dissolve and disappear. The remaining Slifers saw their friend lying on the ground in the center of the field. The Shadow Duelist was gone.

What shocked them though was that Jaden wasn't alone. Also unconscious on the floor were about twelve other kids, about five were girls and the rest were boys. They were all wearing academy uniforms from each of the three different ranks, some with variations.

The boys gawked for a second before they rushed to their friend.

"Jaden! Wake up! Wake up!" Syrus called.

"Are you okay?" Chumley asked, sitting their friend up.

A few moments later, there was a groan and Jaden slowly opened his eyes. His vision was swimming a bit, but eventually it cleared up enough so he could see the worried faces of his roommates.

"What happened…?" He said hoarsely, trying to get his bearings again.

"That's what we'd like to know." Syrus answered.

"What happened in there?" Chumley asked.

"Our carnival carny ticked off the Shadows, that's what," Jaden explained, managing to sit himself up. "They don't like to be mimicked."

"Who are all these other kids?" Syrus looks around at the newcomers.

"Hey, I recognize a few of the kids in Slifer uniforms!" Chumley realized as he looked closer.

"They're the missing students," Jaden said, getting himself to his feet. "I won the duel, so the Shadows let them go. Speaking of, is Alexis okay?"

Syrus looked over at the coffin where Alexis lay. "She looks okay."

Jay sighed a tired breath. "Okay, we're going to need help getting these kids out here."

He reached into his pocket and made a call on his PDA. Looks like the time for hiding was over.

 _Outside_

Later on, Crowler walked through the woods to the Abandoned Dorm. He figured the job should have been done by now.

"Little Jaden must be beaten and paralyzed with fear by now!"

However, when he arrived at the dorm, he saw it was a hub of organized chaos. The Disciplinary Action Squad Army, which was the school's own security and police force, had a small force there along with just as many medical personnel. When he looked closer, he was shocked to see the missing students again. That's what the medics were for.

' _What in the world is going on here?'_ Crowler wondered, hoping this had nothing to do with him.

He walked closer and noticed Jaden and his two roommates sitting off to the side with Alexis, also unconscious. He was shocked that Jaden was calm and fine. He then moved over to where the commander was directing people.

"Excuse me? What's all this?" He asked her.

She turned and recognized the vice chancellor immediately. "We got a call that there was some kind of activity going on here. When we arrived, one of the Slifer boys led us down to the basement to where about twelve or thirteen students were left unconscious. He told us he had been jumped by a Shadow Duelist. Investigating the area further, we found a field spell card on the ground that didn't belong to him or any of the other students."

She showed him the card in the evidence bag. He recognized it immediately. ' _It's that Shadow Duelist's Pandemonium card! He would never leave this behind unless… he lost!'_

Crowler wanted to be irritated about his plan failing, but when he looked around at all the commotion, all he felt was guilt. His plan had led to this, he didn't realize how dangerous this man could have been.

On the other hand, his plan had inadvertently gotten the missing students back. So, yeah, major mixed feelings right now.

Meanwhile, with the gang, Alexis was finally coming around. When she fully woke, she was surprised by all the commotion going on.

"Well, well. Good morning, sleepy head." Jaden said.

"Where am I? What are you doing here? And what's going on?" Alexis demanded.

"Hold on. What kind of a "thank you" is that?" Jaden asked, though he was smiling. "We're here because we had to find the bad guy, win the duel, rescue the damsel in distress, and save the captured soldiers while we were at it."

"Yeah, that strange man snatched me!"

"But it looks like he didn't have anything to do with the missing students," Jaden looked back over that the commotion before turning back. "That reminds me, we found your card. And this."

He showed Alexis the photograph they'd found. She gasped when she saw it. "My brother?! This is the first trace I've seen of him in a long time."

"Unfortunately, he wasn't with the others, but I brought it to let your know that we want to help you find him," Jaden explained. "He was a friend of Ben, so that makes him my friend, too. Plus, we can't have you getting locked up in any more tombs searching for him by yourself."

"You really were worried about me weren't you?"

Before Jaden could answer, one of the officers came up to them.

"The commander would like to speak to you two to get your statements," He said to Syrus and Chumley before turning to Alexis. "And the medics want to give you a medical evaluation."

They all nodded and got up, leaving Jaden alone. Alexis smiled at him before she walked away. ' _Thank you, Jaden. You saved me and the other students. And now, I might still be able to save my brother, too.'_

When they were out of earshot, the officer turned to Jaden. "Your father's on the line, Mr. Kaiba."

Jaden nodded and went over to the truck where the officer had left the phone. He was not looking forward to this.

"Hello?"

" _Jaden Zachariah Kaiba, what do you think you're doing?!"_

"I had to make sure Shadow Games weren't running wild on the island! I'm sorry, I should have asked."

" _Yes, you should have, but we'll talk about that later! After we get this mess straightened out."_

"Okay. I take it you're coming."

" _I'll be there tomorrow. We'll discuss the situation and your punishment when I get there."_

"Yes, sir." Jaden hated when his father talked like that. It scared him.

Seeming to sense his distress, Kaiba sighed. " _You know I'm like this because I care, right? I don't want to lose you."_

"I know."

" _We'll talk more later, right now, go get some sleep. You've had a busy night."_

"Okay. Bye, Dad." Jaden then hung up the phone, knowing things were going to change.

 **Finally, it is done!**

 **Michael: Finals or the chapter?**

 **Both! I'm now on break, so hopefully I'll be able to update more. So, read, review, and stay tuned!**


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